One More Chance
by Annie1421
Summary: Because you know that true love needs one more chance TROYPAY
1. Trailer

**A/N:** The story is actually based on a movie that was shown here in the Philippines. Although I changed some parts of the plot to make it more Troypay, I do not own all of it - well, just some parts of it :)

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**They have been together for 2 years**

**He was her everything**

**She was his life**

_Flashes to Troy and Sharpay by his locker_

"Happy 2nd anniversary, babe" Troy said, wrapping his arms around Sharpay's waist as she wraps her arms around his neck. Their foreheads resting on each others, "Happy anniversary" she answered

**He made a mistake  
**

**She was left standing alone**

_Flashes to Troy giving Gabriella a necklace_

_Flashes to Sharpay watching them by her locker, a tear rolling down her cheek._

**Time passed…**

**She moved on**

**He wanted her back**

"What do you want Troy?"

"I want you back, Sharpay. I need you back in my life."

"It's not that easy. You chose to break my heart the first time and I can't risk it again"

**He can't live without her**

**She doesn't want to hurt anymore**

"I love you Sharpay. " Troy whispered and then everything went black

_Flashes to Sharpay running down a hospital hallway_

_Flashes to Troy in a coma_

_Flashes to Sharpay sitting by his side, her hands in his, crying._

"I swear Troy if you ever wake up again, I'm going to kill you for trying to leave me like that"

_Flashes to Troy's eyes struggling to open, adjusting to the light_

**He needed one more chance**

**She gave him one more chance**

_Flashes to Sharpay and Troy at the altar_

"I do" Troy said, putting a ring on her finger and mouths "I love you"

Sharpay smiles and mouths "I love you" back, "I do" she said

**This is the story about how true love ...  
**

**Needs One More Chance…**

**Coming to Fanfiction**

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A/N: **Reviews please! Let me know if you like it or if it sucks!


	2. A Perfect Life

A/N: I do not HSM.

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**Chapter 1 – Their Perfect Life**

"Wake up, my princess! Wake up, honey! I love you and I can't wait to see you." Troy's voice flooded her bedroom. She smiled as she opened her eyes and hit the off button of her alarm clock. He customized her alarm alert a month after they got together and even after two years of being together, it still had the same effect on her. It was like this everyday; waking up to the sound of Troy's voice always put a smile on her face. She surveyed her room, yawned and stretched the sleepiness off her. She reached for her pink diamond encrusted Sidekick and checked her messages. She had one voicemail. It was from Troy.

"Good morning, my princess. Happy 2nd anniversary, love. I can't wait to see you and I promise tonight, you'll have the best time. Now get up from that bed, take a long, hot shower and I'll see you in 40 minutes. I love you" Troy said.

Sharpay smiled as she flipped her phone close. Today is their 2nd year anniversary and she still can't believe that they're together. She got up from her bed as she thought about how she and Troy got together.

Troy and Sharpay have been best friends since they were in the 3rd grade. They would spend so much time together and tell each other absolutely everything and anything. Their parents were close and were always teasing them that they would end up getting married someday. She smiled at the thought. Getting married to Troy was something she always daydreams about in the morning and today was no exception. When they got to high school, cliques were formed. Sharpay loved acting and would always get the lead in school plays; hence she was labeled the Drama Queen while Troy was the Basketball King after being named captain by his sophomore year. They were arguably the two most popular and richest kids in East High. But despite this, they managed to get past that stereotype and got together just before winter break. They were known as the Golden Couple as the entire student body accepted them and was supportive of their relationship; after all, every queen needs her king.

She smiled as she stepped out of the shower and went straight to her walk-in closet. She picked out Troy's favorite outfit on her: a black Dior laced top, white William Rast denim pants and a black Manolo Blahnik pumps. She accessorized her outfit with the locket Troy gave her for their 1st anniversary. It was a heart-shaped, diamond encrusted locket with both of their pictures in it. She checked herself one more time in the full-length mirror when she heard somebody knocked.

"It's open" she yelled. It was Ryan.

"Hey Pay, what's up?" Ryan asked as he plopped himself on Sharpay's bed

Sharpay ignored him and continued to check herself out in the mirror, smoothing the invisible crease on her outfit. Ryan rolled his eyes, stood up, approached her and took out something from his pocket. It was a white gold bracelet with a microphone charm covered with diamonds. "Here" Ryan continued.

Sharpay turned to look at his brother, with a raised eyebrow "What's this for?"

"It's from Troy. I'm taking it's your 2nd year anniversary." Ryan explained as he put the bracelet on her and then to look at her. "Okay. You officially look like a walking jewelry store. Good thing Troy is driving you up this morning"

Sharpay smiled as she played with her new jewelry, completely ignoring Ryan again. Ryan cleared her throat to get her attention. "Speaking of Troy, he's in the kitchen"

Sharpay beamed even more and kissed Ryan on the cheek "Thank little bro", she teased and walked out of the room.

"5 minutes! That was only 5 minutes!" Ryan shouted but Sharpay was half way down the stairs. She tried to hurry her step as fast as her Manalo Blahnik would allow her. She went straight into the kitchen and found Troy making her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She hugged him from behind

"Hey baby, happy anniversary" She said

Troy turned around and enveloped her with his arms "Wow, you look incredible baby. Happy anniversary. I see you got gift number 1" he said, eyeing the bracelet.

"Yeah and I love it and you look incredible yourself" she said, leaning forward and capturing his lips in a kiss. Troy placed a hand on her cheek, deepening the kiss but pulled away when the need for air was necessary.

"Ready to go to school?" Troy asked, resting his forehead on hers.

"Do we have to?" Sharpay whined.

Troy laughed. He loved Sharpay's little tantrums. "Unfortunately, we do."

"Okay, okay. But before we go, I want to give you…" she said, reaching something from her back pocket. "…this" and handed them to Troy. It was two season pass, courtside tickets for the LA Lakers.

Troy's mouth hang open as he grabbed the ticket "How? …Wow, thank you baby!"

Sharpay beamed "Anything for you honey" she said, leaning in to kiss Troy, who immediately deepened the kiss. Sharpay moved her arms from his waist to his neck as Troy tightened his grip around her waist. He was getting ready to hoist Sharpay up on the kitchen counter when they heard Ryan.

"Gah, stop! Get a room!" Ryan exclaimed as both Troy and Sharpay pulled away and laughed.

Troy finished making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, one for him and one for Sharpay, and stuffed them inside his bag. He laced his hands with Sharpay's and dragged her outside. Sharpay waved goodbye to his brother and then disappeared outside.

The moment they stepped in school, they were immediately greeted by their best friends, Chad Danforth and his girlfriend, Taylor McKessie.

"Hey Pay!" Taylor greeted, as she enveloped her in a hug while Troy and Chad knocked fist.

"Hey Tay! So how was your date last night?" Sharpay asked sarcastically.

"You told her already?" Chad exclaimed, his eyes doubling in size

"No" Taylor said bluntly

"She just texted it" Sharpay added as Troy tightened his grip around Sharpay's waist, laughing.

Chad saw this and rolled his eyes "And you know already?"

"Yeah, well we don't keep secrets from one another" Troy defended.

"So you should have thought about what you did before actually doing it" Sharpay teased

"Hey, let it go. I mean he didn't do it on purpose, right baby?" Taylor asked wrapping her arms around Chad's neck.

"Right" Chad pouted before giving Taylor a soft peck on the lips "And everybody does it. Even you two" Chad added

"Yeah, but we never do it in front of each other." Sharpay said.

"Face it Chad. You and Tay have taken your relationship to an all new level… the "fart" stage" Troy teased as he, Sharpay and Taylor laughed at the expense of Chad.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever" Chad gave up and joined in.

Just then the school bell rang. For their senior year, Troy and Sharpay only has class together, AP Pre Calculus, which bummed both of them but they were secure with their relationship plus the fact that Troy is spending 5 nights a week at Sharpay's. Also contrary to popular belief of being popular and despite both being involved in extra-curricular activities, they are both really smart being in at least 3 AP classes (different schedules) and have a 3.8 GPA.

Sharpay's first class was History and Mr. Michaels was a boring teacher, indeed. Today, they were studying the French Revolution and by the middle of it Sharpay was already spacing out. She thought about her life with Troy for the past two years. A typical day for Troy and Sharpay in school usually starts with them hanging out with their best friends Chad and Taylor. They'll go to their morning classes separately but will make sure to see each other in between and these means making out either in front of Troy's or Sharpay's locker. Troy's free period is usually spent playing basketball with either Chad or Ryan in the gym while Sharpay spends her free period with Kelsi at the auditorium practicing for the next musicale. For lunch, they sometime spend it alone together in the Science Garden or with their friends at the cafeteria. After drama rehearsals and basketball practice, they would go straight to the Troy's house for dinner since Sharpay loved Lucy Bolton's cooking and then to Sharpay's for the night. Jack and Lucy Bolton, Troy's parents, were okay with Troy spending the night at Sharpay. They trust him and the fact that they consider Sharpay as part of their family. And no, they haven't had sex – Sharpay did not want to, she wanted to stay a virgin until she got married. Troy understands and did not pressure her. At Sharpay's, they would do their homework first and then watched DVDs until they fall asleep. This has been her life for the past two years and honestly she hoped that it would stay like this for the rest of their life.

Everything seemed to go by so fast for Sharpay and that lunch time was up ahead. She was starting to space out again when her phone vibrated. She had one new message. She discreetly grabbed her phone from her purse and read the message. It was from Troy.

_To Sharpay_

_Hey baby, meet me at the Science Garden for lunch. I love you_

She smiled, hit the reply button and typed her message as quick as possible

_To Troy_

_See you soon. I love you too baby!_

She flipped her phone close and placed it back inside her purse. She couldn't wait for lunch now. She stared at the clock above Ms. Hall, hoping that time would speed up a bit. Tick-tock-tick-tock and 5 minutes later, the bell rang. Sharpay quickly gathered her things and made her way towards the Science Garden. When she got there, Troy was placing the sandwiches he made this morning on two paper plates and got two bottles of mango juice. She smiled, cleared her throat announcing her arrival and walked towards Troy.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Bolton, your anniversary lunch is served" Troy said, ushering Sharpay to take a seat on the bench.

Sharpay giggled "Why thank you, Mr. Bolton."

Troy laughed and sat beside Sharpay, wrapping his arms around her while she rested her back on his chest. They stayed like that all throughout lunch time, not moving a muscle. The only time they moved was when the bell rang. Troy quickly collected their things, grabbed Sharpay's hand and made their way out of the Science Garden. They stopped by Troy's locker.

"Happy 2nd anniversary, babe" Troy said, wrapping his arms around Sharpay's waist as she wraps her arms around his neck and their foreheads resting on each others.

"Happy anniversary" she answered.

She was about to lean in to give Troy a kiss when Chad shouted from across the hall, "Get a room"

They gave Chad a death glare as the rest of the gang (this includes Taylor, Ryan, Kelsi, Jason, Zeke and Martha) laughed and made their way towards them. Troy rolled his eyes and turned back to Sharpay, "So I'll pick you up tonight at 7PM, okay?"

Sharpay nodded, "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." Troy said, kissing Sharpay softly. "Also, I asked Taylor to give you a ride home so that we, meaning you, will have more time to prepare for our date"

"Fine. I'll see you at 7PM then." Sharpay said. She kissed Troy one more time before Taylor dragged her to their next class.

_Later that evening… Troy and Sharpay's date_

Troy and Sharpay had dinner at Cibo, the newest 5-star Italian restaurant in Albuquerque, where he rented an entire function room for the both of them. She was wearing a black off-shoulder, knee-length Neiman Marcus top, Ralph Lauren denim pants and black Jimmy Choo pumps. She was also wearing the necklace and bracelet that Troy gave her. Troy, on the other hand, was wearing blue short-sleeve Armani polo, William Rast denim pants and white Converse sneakers.

Afte dinner, they were dancing even though there was no music. Troy suddenly stopped and pulled away causing Sharpay to give him a confused look. He reached something in his pocket and took Sharpay's hand in his. He opened his hand to reveal a pink diamond ring. Sharpay's eyes doubled in size as she puts a hand over mouth.

Troy smiled "Don't worry. It's not an engagement ring. Well, not yet. It's a promise ring."

"A promise ring?" was all Sharpay managed to say

"Yeah. A promise ring that as long as you wear it means that someday, somehow, we will get married, have kids and grow old with each other." Troy declared. Sharpay was so happy that she failed to say anything, which made Troy very nervous, "So what do you say?"

"Of course, I'll marry you Troy and I don't care where or when as long as it's you that I'm going to marry" Sharpay said as she placed her lips on his. Troy cupped her face as he deepened the kiss; he traced his tongue on her lips, begging for entrance which she automatically granted. They pulled hesitantly pulled away when the need for oxygen became crucial.

Their foreheads pressed against each other "I love you Sharpay Michelle Evans" He said

"I love you too Troy Alexander Bolton" She replied.

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A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! Anyway, here you go. I hope you like it and as always... REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	3. Copycat

A/N: I do not own HSM!

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**Chapter 2 – Copycat**

A week after their anniversary, Sharpay was at the auditorium with Kelsi and Taylor preparing for her auditions next Friday. School let out half an hour ago and with only two weeks before winter break, they really have nothing to do. The boys were at basketball practice which should be done in an hour. They didn't feel like going to the mall so they just stayed there waiting for their boyfriends. Kelsi was playing the piano, Martha was reading 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' while Taylor was reading the new issue of Cosmo Girl magazine and Sharpay was going through her iPod figuring out what song to sing.

"Any plans for the winter break?" Kelsi asked, continuing to play soft music

"None here. You?" Martha said

"Staying in town as well" Kelsi replied and then looked at Taylor

Taylor shrugged "Chad's taking me up to New Jersey to meet his grandparents"

"Wow! Meeting the grandparents…sounds like you and Chad are getting pretty serious" Kelsi exclaimed as Taylor giggled and then turned to Sharpay. "How about you Pay? You and Troy going to Aspen again?"

"Well, Troy and Ryan are still going but I have to go to Italy for a couple of days" Sharpay said

"Italy?" Kelsi, Martha and Taylor said.

"What are you going to do there?" Taylor asked

Sharpay looked around the auditorium making sure that nobody aside from them was there and then motioned for them to come in closer. They looked at each other, confused and approached Sharpay cautiously.

She noticed this, rolled her eyes and said "Hello! I'm not going to bite! Would you just get over here, please?"

They laughed and moved faster. When they got settled in, Sharpay continued "Okay, so I'm going to Italy because I have to get something for Troy but it's a secret and he. Does. Not. Know. Anything. About. It"

Kelsi, Martha and Taylor looked at Sharpay with eyes wide, giggling. Sharpay was about to say something else when Troy, Ryan, Chad, Jason and Zeke walked in.

"Who does not know anything about?" Troy said as he approached, wrapping his arms around Sharpay's waist and kissed her cheek.

"What are you doing here early? I thought you have basketball practice for at least another hour?" Sharpay asked trying to change the subject.

"Coach Young wanted to give us a "well-deserved" time off so he let us out early" Jason said, sitting beside his girlfriend Kelsi as the rest of the guys nodded.

"So what are you talking about?" Ryan asked, teasing Sharpay. He knew for a fact that the girls were talking about Sharpay's trip to Italy which is more for Troy than for her.

Troy is a big LA Lakers fan and through Mr. Evans' connection, Sharpay has arranged for Troy to get a 5 2-hour private practice session with Kobe Bryant. She was going to Italy to meet with Kobe and finalize the deal.

Sharpay shot her brother a death glare and then turned to Kelsi, Martha and Taylor, her eyes pleading for help. They just shrugged. Troy noticed this and asked again "What do I know nothing about?"

"Nothing. It's nothing baby" Sharpay said, placing her lips on him and hoped that he'll forget about it. And he did and soon that innocent kiss turned into a mini make-out session for them.

The gang looked at each other and simultaneously cleared their throats to get their attention. Ryan, on the other hand, covered his eyes and shouted "Please! I do not want therapy for the rest of my life"

They pulled away and smiled sheepishly while their friends laughed at Ryan's reaction. They all fell into a comfortable silence until Chad's stomach growled "Who wants to go McDonald's?"

They all laughed as they raised their hands and piled out of the auditorium.

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Later that evening, Troy and Sharpay were at the Evans' mansion as usual. They were in the entertainment room watching Night at the Museum. Troy was lying down on the couch with Sharpay on top of him and his arm securely wrapped around her waist.

As the movie credits were rolling, Sharpay faced Troy, her chin resting on his chest. He traced her facial features with his fingers and smiled. "Do you really have to go to Italy?"

After the gang's trip to McDonald's that afternoon, Sharpay told Troy about her trip to Italy but conveniently left out the reason why. She smiled and said "Yes. But it's only for three days. You wouldn't even notice that I was gone"

Troy pouted "But three days is three days, Pay. Can I just go with you? I promise I'll be good"

Sharpay smiled and kissed Troy softly "I know you'll be good but I have to do this alone. But I promise you that once this is done, you'll be one happy Troy Bolton… literally"

"Fine." Troy sighed as Sharpay yawned. "Come on, let's go to bed" he continued as Sharpay rolled off him and pulled him up.

"So are you ready for the auditions next week?" Troy asked as he and Sharpay walked up the stairs towards her room.

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Later that night, Sharpay woke up with beads of sweat on her forehead. Something bad will happen tomorrow, she just knows it.

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During homeroom the next day, Sharpay was talking with Kelsi, Taylor and Martha waiting for Ms. Darbus when something caught her eyes from the doorway.

"Oh. My. God" was all Sharpay said as the girls turned their heads in the same direction.

Standing on the doorway was someone they thought they wouldn't see in a very, very long time, Gabriella Montez, Sharpay's "frenemy" and Troy's number 1 stalker.

Ever since Gabriella went to East High back when they were in the 6th grade, she has been envious of Sharpay and was constantly copying her. From her looks to everything she has but can never pull it off. She even befriended Sharpay when they were in 7th grade and always claimed that Sharpay was her best friend. She followed Sharpay like a dog on a leash for a year and a half but it didn't pay off since Taylor, Kelsi and Martha were always there for Sharpay. She even put up being the understudy for the musicals. But when Sharpay and Troy got together during their sophomore year, she flipped and declared an all out war with her. Sharpay, on the other hand, knew that Gabriella has always set her eyes on Troy and even more when she and Troy got together. She even tried seducing Troy and when he shot Gabriella down in front of the entire basketball team during a pep rally, she immediately transferred school and nobody has heard from her again for the past two years.

But now here she was, back from wherever, sporting a new look. A look…that's almost similar to Sharpay.

Taylor turned back to Sharpay with her mouth hanging wide open and hissed "Oh my god! Sharpay, she looks just like you"

Kelsi and Martha snapped back to reality and turned to them. "Blond hair…" Martha began

"… and everything" Kelsi said

Sharpay was about to say something when Gabriella approached her and gave her air kisses. "Sharpay! It's so good to see you"

"Good to see you too, Gabriella! Are you back for good?" Sharpay said politely.

"Yeah I'm back."

"Nice hair"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and sat on the empty chair next to Sharpay. She, on the other hand, smiled and looked at her friends as Taylor mouthed 'bitch'. Gabriella saw this and was about to tell Taylor off when Ms. Darbus entered and began her lecture.

Lunch time came and the school was talking about Gabriella's return and her new 'Sharpay' look. Today, Troy and Sharpay decided to have lunch with the gang who were seated at the center table in the cafeteria. As usual, Troy was talking to Chad, who was across the table about the latest move they have to learn during basketball practice the day before as his left arm wrapped securely around Sharpay's waist. Meanwhile Sharpay was talking to Kelsi about her audition piece as her right arm was lazily draped on Troy's lap. When suddenly Gabriella sat down on the empty chair beside Troy and puts her arm around his neck, "Hi Troy! Miss me?"

Troy was taken aback and moved out of Gabriella's grasp and closer to Sharpay as if hiding from a scary monster. The rest of the gang tried hiding their laughter at the scene.

"Uh…Hi Gabriella. Welcome back" Troy said tentatively.

"Aw… Thanks Troysie. Well I'll see you soon" Gabriella said as stood up and blew Troy a kiss.

"Yeah, bah-bye" Sharpay said as she felt Troy tightening his grip around her. "Well that was…"

"…weird" Troy exclaimed, finishing Sharpay's sentence while she nodded.

"…crazy" Ryan continued

"…freaky" Zeke followed

"… and just plain gross" Jason added.

"Dude, she dyed her hair blonde" Chad exclaimed as the rest of the boys excluding Troy nodded, who was still staring at Gabriella. They were still appalled by what they just saw.

"Talk about copycat…" Taylor said.

"…wannabe…" Kelsi added.

"…bitch" Martha finished.

The guys including Sharpay looked shockingly at the girls. This was the first time that the three have been catty towards somebody. Usually, it was Sharpay who would throw a rude comment or two and all of them would laugh but hearing the other three girls do it was just plain… something.

The girls noticed the sudden silence of the group, looked at each other and asked "What?"

The rest of the gang snapped back to reality and broke into laughter. "I'm proud. I never knew you three had it in you" Sharpay said

Kelsi, who was seating right next to her, giggled and leaned forward to Sharpay "Well, we learned from the best"

Sharpay rolled her eyes and pushed Kelsi off her, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now, move"

The gangs doubled in laughter that Jason's spaghetti flew out of his nose and Gabriella was soon forgotten by everyone but Sharpay. She had a really bad feeling about her sudden return and her new look. She knew that Gabriella was after Troy again and this time it looked like she's not going to stop at anything.

Troy noticed her silence, knowing exactly what's bothering her and whispered, "You don't have to worry about her. I'm not going anywhere"

Sharpay smiled and leaned her forehead against his "You promise?"

"I promise" Troy said

They were about to kiss when they heard Ryan cried out, "I seriously wish you two would stop making out in front of me"

Sharpay gave her brother a sympathy smile and said "Not in this lifetime, little bro". She then continued to lean forward and placed her lips on Troy's, starting make-out session number 5 for the day.

"By five minutes" Ryan exclaimed as the gang laughed and shook their heads.

Troy and Sharpay pulled apart when they heard the school bell rang and started gathering their things getting ready for their afternoon classes.

Little did they know that Gabriella saw and heard the whole thing from behind the cafeteria door. _"That's one promise you won't be able to keep Troy. I'll see to it"_ Gabriella thought and then strutted off to her next class.

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A/N: Okay, so can you just imagine Gabriella having blond hair... eww... Anyways, I hope you like this chapter and as usual... REVIEWS please :)


	4. Fuel for Revenge

**A/N: I do not own HSM.**

**Sharpay's song - I'll never go by Erik Santos**

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**Chapter 3 – Fuel for Revenge**

_One week before the auditions and winter break_

Troy and Sharpay walked into East High hand in hand and made their way towards the gang, who were huddled up near the Drama billboard and whispering suspiciously. From afar, Sharpay could tell that Taylor and Kelsi were talking – or rather ranting furiously plus the fact that Chad and Jason were rubbing their girlfriend's back in an attempt to calm them down. Ryan, Martha and Zeke glanced back and forth Taylor and Kelsi and the sign-up sheet. Also if that wasn't enough, on their way there, people were staring at them.

Sharpay noticed this and leaned towards Troy "What's up with the people today?"

Troy shrugged and wrapped his arm around Sharpay's waist "It's probably nothing. Absolutely nothing to worry about"

The gang parted like the Red Sea when Troy and Sharpay reached them, revealing the sign-up sheet for the next musicale. Ryan tentatively began, "Um… Pay, you may want to look at this" and pointed towards the piece of paper.

Sharpay creased her eyebrows in confusion and then looked at the sign-up sheet. She scanned it looking for anything wrong and then there it was just below her name.

_Singles Audition - Female Lead_

_Sharpay Evans_

_Gabriella Montez_

She just stared at the sign-up sheet for a few more second and then turned back to the gang, "As if I care." she said smiling devilishly.

The gang broke into laughter and started talking about the upcoming winter break when Gabriella came up from behind them together with her wannabes. She cleared her throat, grabbing the gang's attention as the people in the hallway stopped to watch "Well you should. This is just the beginning"

"Yeah, okay, whatever you say" Sharpay exclaimed.

"Aw… Its okay, Sharpay. You don't have to be scared; there are a lot of supporting roles in the musicale…" Gabriella began but was cut off by Sharpay, who said and tightened her grip around Troy's arm, "…Well, I guess you don't have to worry about being rejected… again"

Gabriella glared at her while the gang was trying to stifle their laughs. Well, everyone except for Jason who took out his iPhone and snapped Gabriella's priceless reaction. As soon as the shutter sound was heard, the whole hallway erupted into laughter. Gabriella looked around to glared at everyone and turned back to Sharpay "You are so going to regret that"

"Let's see. Toddles" Sharpay smirked as Gabriella and her wannabes walked away.

Troy smiled, pulled Sharpay closer to him and kissed her temple "That's my girl. I love you".

"You better" Sharpay said as Troy grinned and gave her a gentle kiss.

When the school bell rang, the gang parted and made their way towards their classes.

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_One day before the auditions and winter break_

The final bell rang for today and Sharpay was rehearsing at the auditorium with Kelsi. After 15 minutes of singing, they decided to take a break. Sharpay sat the edge of stage while Kelsi remained seated by the piano.

"Pay?" Kelsi said as Sharpay turned to her.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you would end up marrying Troy?"

Sharpay looked confused at Kelsi and asked, "Where did that come from?"

Kelsi shrugged and just stared at her. She sighed and looked at her Manalo Blahniks, "I hope so" They were silent for quite sometime until Sharpay broke the silence "How about you and Jason?"

"Maybe… Yes…No… I don't know" Kelsi answered as she puts her head in her hands.

Sharpay sensing Kelsi's apprehension went to sit with her by the piano and rubbed her back, "Hey, its ok. We're only 17. How are we supposed to know that our current boyfriends are the ones we're going to end up with?"

"Well you and Troy looked like…" Kelsi began to reason out

"Hey… hey… I said I hope so… Not everything is set in stone, it's still up to us what will happen tomorrow, next week, next month or next year" Sharpay explained

Kelsi smiled shyly at Sharpay "Thanks Pay"

"No worries. Now let's help me rehearse so I can whip Gabriella's butt tomorrow" Sharpay giggled as Kelsi laughed at her comment and pushed her off the bench. Sharpay grabbed the microphone while Kelsi started playing the piano.

The rest of the gang walked in while Sharpay was singing the chorus. She beamed when she her friends as they sat on the first row listening to her. When Sharpay sang the last note, the gang gave her a standing ovation and made their way towards the stage.

Troy went straight to Sharpay and hugged her "That was beautiful baby. I can't wait to hear you tomorrow and then we're off to Aspen"

"Um, Troy…"

Troy sighed and placed his head on Sharpay's shoulder "Do you really have to go? Can I just go with you, please?"

"Troy…" Sharpay said as she lifts his head so that they were face-to-face. "…we already talked about this. Plus you have Ryan there with you to keep you company"

Sharpay leaned in, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a soft kiss, which immediately turned to another make-out session. They heard the gang cleared their throats but ignored them. They'll stop bothering them sooner or later.

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_The next day…_

"Welcome my young thespians. Today is our audition for the winter musicale, Fabulous, which is written by our very own Kelsi Nielson." Mrs. Dabrus turned to Kelsi, who was sitting with the gang, and motioned her to stand up. Kelsi stood up and received a round of applause. "Now, I know that all of you are dying to get out of here since its winter break and all. So we shall start immediately with our auditions. First up, Kris Martin."

Audition after audition and soon it was Gabriella and Sharpay's turn. Since Sharpay was the Drama Club president, she had the privilege of going last. Gabriella sang "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne.

When her song was over, Mrs. Darbus cleared her throat, trying to find the words to describe Gabriella's performance. She began tentatively "Good job Gabriella… You have a good voice but that was a wrong choice for a song"

The gang snickered from their seats as Gabriella gave them a death glare and then walked out of the stage.

"Okay. Now onto our last but definitely not the least performer, Sharpay Evans." Mrs. Darbus announced.

Sharpay took the stage and soon the auditorium was flooded with soothing melody. She looked directly at Troy then started singing.

_You would always ask me  
Those words I say  
And telling me what it means to me  
Every single day  
You always act this way  
For how many times I told you  
I love you  
For this is all I know_

Come to me and hold me  
And you will see  
The love I give  
For you still hold the key  
Every single day  
You always act this way  
For how many times I told you  
I love you  
For this is all I know

_I'll never go far away from you  
Even the sky will tell you  
That I need you so  
For this is all I know  
I'll never go far away from you_

Come to me and hold me  
And you will see  
The love I give  
For you still hold the key  
Every single day  
You always act this way  
For how many times I told you  
I love you  
For this is all I know

_I'll never go far away from you  
even the sky will tell you  
that I need you so  
for this is all I know  
I'll never go far away from you_

_I'll never go far away from you  
even the sky will tell you  
that I need you so  
for this is all I know  
I'll never go far away from you_

_I'll never go far away from you  
even the sky will tell you  
that I need you so  
for this is all I know  
I'll never go far away from you_

_I'll never go  
[never go away]  
I'll never go away  
[never go]..._

The crowd cheered as soon as Sharpay sang the last note.

"Brava, Ms. Evans! Brava!" Mrs. Darbus announced as she waited for the applause to die down. "Now, I guess there is no need to wait for the cast list. Ms. Evans, you will be playing our female lead, Samantha and Ms. Montez…" She turned to Gabriella "… you will be Sharpay's understudy in case she doesn't make it to one of our shows, which is very unlikely." Gabriella scowled, got up from her chair and walked out of the auditorium. Mrs. Darbus stared at her and then continued when Gabriella disappeared outside "As for the rest of cast, I will post it first thing next, next week. Have a "fabulous" winter break"

The crowd clapped one more time before going out of the auditorium one by one. The gang ran towards the stage to congratulate Sharpay.

Ryan was the first to run up to his sister and gave her a hug "Congrats, Pay!"

"Thanks Ry" Sharpay said as she hugged her brother back.

"Told you you'd whipped Gabriella's ass" Kelsi said as she hugged Sharpay. The rest of the gang congratulated her until she saw Troy standing from behind them. She looked at him and smiled "So are you just going to stand there or are you going to get your butt over her and congratulate me?"

Troy laughed and made his towards her. He scooped her up in his arms and circled around "You did awesome, baby!"

Sharpay laughed and smacked his arms playfully. "Did you like the song?"

Troy answered her with a gentle kiss. Sharpay pulled away and giggled "I'll take that as a yes then"

She was about to lean in again when she heard Ryan groaned from behind her. She rolled her eyes, "Fine. Fine. We'll make out when we get home. Now who wants to go out for a little celebration?"

The gang cheered and walked out of the auditorium.

****************************************

_Meanwhile…_

After Mrs. Darbus announced the results of the audition, Gabriella stormed inside the girl's bathroom. She was extremely furious at Mrs. Darbus for embarrassing her like that and even more furious that Sharpay got the role. She stared at her reflection "You're going to pay for that Sharpay. You're going to pay!"

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A/N: Okay... So i'm a little scared and freaked out with Gabriella by now.. but i just love embarrassing her in this chapter..

Let me know what you guys think and as usual REVIEW please :)


	5. Bittersweet

**A/N: Sorry, it took so long for me to update. Anyway, here you go... enjoy and as usual, REVIEWS please :)**

**I do not own HSM! **

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**Chapter 4 – Bittersweet**

"I'll miss you" Troy said, cupping Sharpay's face and then leaning in to kiss her. She was standing on her toes with her arms wrapped around his neck, wrinkled her nose and nuzzled it against Troy's, "You better"

Troy laughed and held Sharpay closer "Do you really have to go?"

Sharpay smiled and was about to say something when the airport's sound system rang.

"_All passengers bound to Aspen Colorado via United Airlines flight 242, please proceed to gate number 2"_

"Well, that's our flight" Troy sighed and let his head dropped onto Sharpay's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." She said, lifting his face to her level. "It's just for three days. I promise I'll be in Aspen before you know it"

Troy was about to lean in when he felt a hand tapping on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Ryan grinning with a large strawberry smoothie on his hand. He rolled his eyes and said, "You seriously need to work on your timing dude. That was a very critical moment"

"Yeah, playing tonsil hockey and sucking my sister's face is critical." Ryan said sarcastically

"Ryan!!!" Sharpay interrupted.

"Now, let's go. I don't want to miss our flight. See you in three days, sis. Bring me whatever it is they have in Italy" Ryan muttered, walking towards Gate 2.

Sharpay laughed and turned back to Troy, "Now, go!"

"Okay. Okay. What time does your flight leave?"

"In about an hour. So kiss me and go before the plane leaves you" Sharpay said closing the gap between her and Troy. They made out for a couple of minutes when the sound system rang again.

"_Last call for passengers bound to Aspen Colorado via United Airlines flight 242, please proceed to gate number 2"_

"That wouldn't be a bad idea" Troy smirked.

"Ha ha you wish" Sharpay muttered and kissed Troy one more time before turning him around and pushing him towards gate number 2. He laughed but didn't protest. When they reached the terminal gate, Troy turned around and gave Sharpay a goodbye kiss.

"I love you." Troy promised

"I love you too" Sharpay answered.

********************************************

The minute the plane landed in Aspen, Troy pulled out his iPhone and left Sharpay a voice message.

"Hey baby, just got here in Aspen. The flight was okay if you don't count Ryan snoring all the way here. Anyway, I'm missing you already. I can't wait for you to get here. I love you. Call me as soon as you get this"

He ended the call and caught up with Ryan who already at the conveyer belt waiting for their luggage.

"Whipped" Ryan said

Troy glared at him but decided to change the topic instead. "How long is the flight from Albuquerque to Italy?"

Ryan stopped for a moment with his fingers circling in the air as if counting time. "Around 18 hours or so"

"Oh…" Troy looked away, disappointed. It will be roughly 15 hours or more before he could talk to her. Somewhere in his gut, Troy had a bad feeling about this trip. A very bad feeling.

Once they were done gathering their bags, they walked out of the airport and made their way towards the waiting limousine. 20 minutes later, they pulled up in front of the Winter Mansion which is a 5-star luxury hotel that caters to mostly businessmen, A-list celebrities and royalties and is owned by – surprise – Vance Evans. They stepped out of the limousine and were greeted by Mr. Martin, the mansion's manager.

"Good morning Mr. Evans and Mr. Bolton, always a pleasure having you here" Mr. Martin greeted as he grabbed Ryan and Troy's hand-carry bag. "Your rooms are ready, the Paradise Suite for Mr. Evans and the Scarlet Suite for Mr. Bolton."

"Remember…" Troy began but was interrupted by Mr. Martin

"The Presidential Suite will be ready for you and Ms. Evans by the time she gets here." Mr. Martin guided them towards the lobby and then up to their rooms. He gave them their room keys and waited for instructions from the boys but left immediately when Ryan waved him off.

"You want to hit the slopes later?" Ryan asked

"Yeah, sure. Meet you there in about an hour?"

Ryan nodded in agreement and went inside his room. Troy was also about to step in inside his room when he noticed a blond girl walked out of the elevator. At first, he thought it was Sharpay and prayed to God that his eyes were deceiving him but was soon disappointed and was a little agitated when he realized that it was Gabriella.

"Hey Troy" Gabriella said as she walks towards him

"Gabriella… what… what are you doing here?" Troy asked, his voice faltering.

She rolled her eyes and answered "Wow… nice to see you too Gabriella"

"What are you doing here Gabriella?" Troy asked again

"Last time I checked this is a free country and as a paying customer here in Winter Mansion, I have every right to be here" Gabriella touched Troy's cheek as she headed towards her suited, which was conveniently right next to Troy's. She opened her suite but turned to face Troy before closing it.

"I'll see you around" Gabriella blew a kiss and then winked at him before closing her door.

Troy shook his head, entered his suite and locked the door. "_I'm not taking any chances" _he thought.

********************************************

_After 15 hours…_

It was already 3AM in Aspen and Troy was sleepy as hell but he couldn't sleep, he had to know if Sharpay got to Italy okay. He was pacing back and forth in his room when his mobile phone rang and answered it right away

"Pay?" Troy answered.

"Troy?"

"How was your flight? Where are you? Were you able to check in at the Hilton? I miss you so much"

"Troy slow down…why are you still awake at…3AM?" Sharpay asked at the end of the line.

"I…uh…I waited for you"

"Aw Troy, you shouldn't have"

"I know but I wanted to. What time is it there?"

"You know I don't wear a watch baby." Sharpay jokingly said.

Troy laughed. "Now go to sleep. I'll call you tomorrow. I love you" Sharpay continued

"I love you too. Goodnight" Troy said.

"Goodnight" and with that Troy ended the call. He placed his phone on the bedside table as sleep claimed him for the night.

********************************************

Time for the next two days – in Troy's opinion – had slowly gone by. Although he was having fun hitting the slopes with Ryan, every minute, every hour seemed to drag on by very slowly. Plus the fact that everywhere he goes, Gabriella seemed to be there and was like his shadow that he can't seem to shake off. Troy would wait up until one in the morning and calls Sharpay. They would usually stay on the phone for an hour before she demands him to go to sleep. Of course, he'd reluctantly agree and end the call. On the day that Sharpay was bound for Aspen, Troy was running frantically around the Mansion getting ready to transfer to the Presidential Suite.

Ryan watched from afar, laughing. He was happy that Sharpay found Troy and was extremely happy that Troy loved Sharpay with all his heart. Even though there are times where the two would totally gross him out, being all lovey-dovey especially when they were making out. He pulled his phone out and sent Sharpay a message.

_To Sharpay_

_You should see Troy right now. LOL. Have a safe trip back. Love you, sis._

He turned back to Troy before leaving "Before you knock yourself out cold setting everything up, remember the party later"

Troy nodded but didn't stop working while Ryan shrugged and left the room.

********************************************

_Later that night… At the party_

"Hey baby, this is probably my 12th message I just want to know where you are since you were supposed to be here an hour ago. Anyway, I hope you're doing okay. Call me as soon as you get this please. I love you" Troy said, pleading to her voicemail.

It was an hour after Sharpay was supposed to be at the Winter Mansion. He tried calling her phone every five minutes for the last hour, trying to reach her but to no avail. To pass time and out of his frustration, Troy was downing glass after glass of champagne.

Ryan saw this and approached Troy, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, maybe you should stop drinking. I doubt Pay would be happy if she found you here drunk."

"Like she cares." Troy said shoving his hands away and grabbed a bottle of champagne from the waiter who passed by. "Cause if she does care or love me for that matter, she would be here with me or she would have at least called me"

Ryan shook his head and walked away. Troy was obviously to drunk to see or hear reasons now. He just prayed that Sharpay would get there soon.

Two hours later, Troy was already drinking his 24th glass and drunk. "Sharpay, where in the world are you? I hoped that you have a good enough reason why you're not here. No, you know what screw it… I don't care if you're here or not… I hope you're having fun with whatever or whoever it is you're doing right now. Don't call me and just so you know, we're over" he said as he ended the call and then drank the rest of the champagne.

Troy was so wasted that he could barely stand up and it took three waiters to help him up into his suite, doing hiccups and ranting all the way.

"You know what I hate is that she doesn't call. _Hiccups. _She thinks that I'm her lapdog. _Hiccups. _Willing to wait for her whenever._ Hiccups._ Well, she's dead wrong. _Hiccups._ I'm done._ Hiccups._ Done. Finished"

The waiters rolled their eyes, trying their best to ignore Troy. They knew Troy loved Sharpay and it was the alcohol talking. They entered Troy's room using the electronic key card that Mr. Martin lent them. They ruggedly placed Troy on the bed and then they were out of the room.

Little did they know that a certain blonde girl sneaked inside and hid inside the hallway closet.

********************************************

Once the waiters were out of the room, Gabriella stepped out of the closet, hurriedly went to the bedroom and closed the door behind her. She found Troy lying in the bed wasted.

"Perfect" she said and made her way towards the bed, stripping several pieces of her clothing.

Troy heard someone and opened his eyes slowly. He smiled. "Sharpay, you're here."

"Shh…" Gabriella placed a finger on his lips to shut him up and then quickly replaced it with her lips. He kissed back her immediately and everything – as they say – is history.

********************************************

_The next day…_

Ryan was having breakfast at the Winter Lodge when he saw a pink limousine pulled up the driveway. He smiled, quickly stood up knowing exactly who arrived – come on, how many people do you know who has pink limousine? - and headed towards the lobby.

He motioned for the valet attendant to open the car door and then there she was. He hugged her as tight as he can. "Hey little sis, what took you so long?"

She rolled her eyes and smiled sarcastically at her brother. She looped her arms around his as they walked inside the Mansion "My flight was delayed for like three hours because of the storm and then worst of all, my phone got stolen. I bought a new one…" She said and then reached for the phone in her bag, showing it to Ryan. "…but then because of that stupid storm, there was no signal for all networks. Ugh"

"Well, Troy was extremely worried about you last night" Ryan informed her but conveniently left the part about him being drunk.

"I know. I tried to call him the moment the plane landed but his phone is off" Sharpay said looking around for Troy.

Ryan noticed this and handed her key card "He's in the Presidential Suite"

"Thanks" Sharpay kissed her brother and then walked towards the elevator.

When she got to the 5th floor, she slowly approached their suite and opened the door, wanting to surprise Troy. It was the first time since they got together that they have been apart that long and had missed him terribly for the last three days. She opened the bedroom door getting ready to surprise him when she saw something she thought she would never see… ever.

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**A/N: I want to say thank you to Writer Rider Dirty Thirties, gossip girl fan101 and neila cross for constantly giving me awesome reviews! :)**


	6. The Morning After

**A/N: I do not own HSM!**

**FYI. I'm not following the movie anymore so this plot is mine... but don't worry I'll stick to the trailer :) ENJOY! :)**

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**Chapter 5 – The Morning After**

Sharpay gasped as she quickly put a hand over her mouth, stifling the noise and tears streaming down her face. She closed her eyes, praying that they were just deceiving her but when she opened them, her nightmare was still there. Gabriella was on top of Troy, naked with his arms wrapped around her waist.

She saw her life go down the drain. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. She wanted rip Gabriella's head off. She wanted to do something but she couldn't move. She was paralyzed as if her heart had stopped beating.

She slowly backed out of the room, trying her best not to make any noise but elbowed the glass vase near the door. She tried to catch it before it crashed but to no avail and it landed on the mahogany floor with a loud crash. A piece of glass flew towards her and cut her arm. She scrambled to get out of the room but it was too late, Troy saw her.

********************************************

Troy knew that he was not alone in the room. He felt somebody moved beside him and immediately recalled the night he had with her – well, parts of it. He then heard someone else as his hangover amplifying every sound in the room. He heard somebody gasped. He then heard somebody crying. He heard a loud crash. He slowly opened his eyes as his vision adjusted to the sunlight. He looked towards the door and saw a fragile blonde girl looking at him, crying. He saw the blood drip from her arm but it seemed that she did not paid attention to it.

He closed and opened his eyes one more time trying to adjust to the sunlight and then he saw her.

"Pay?" Troy whispered.

But how could that be? How could she be there, fully clothed when he just had sex with her. He felt somebody moved beside him and turned to look at it. It was Gabriella. He jerked away from her and looked back at Sharpay but she wasn't there anymore. What has he done?

He grabbed his pants from the floor and went after her. He scanned the entire suite but she wasn't there. He heard the elevator ring and ran outside. He got there in time to see the elevator door closing with Sharpay staring at him, tears running down her face. It was a sight that he'd never thought he'll see on her. It was a sight that he'd never thought he would be the reason for.

He punched the wall beside and went back inside the room. He saw Gabriella on the bed, she was already awake. A thousand things were running through his mind at that moment.

********************************************

Gabriella woke up because of Troy's sudden movement. She stretched the sleepiness off her, taking a good look at her surroundings.

"_This is so not my room" _she thought and soon memories of what happened the night before flooded her mind. She felt pretty good about herself. She finally got something she has always wanted because having sex with Troy is something that she could always hold over Sharpay. Her smile got even bigger when she saw him walked back inside the room.

"_I finally won. Plan A, phase 1 is complete. Now it's time for phase 2"_ She thought to herself.

She got off the bed, wrapped the sheets around her and went over to Troy. She hugged him from behind and kissed his shoulders.

"You were awesome last night" She said.

Troy turned around and looked at her as if he's seconds away from killing her. "Get away from me" he said rudely.

Gabriella stepped back and creased her eyebrows "Excuse me?"

"Get. Away. From. Me" he repeated slowly. He walked inside the bedroom, tossed Gabriella's clothes out and locked the door.

She stared at the door for sometime with rage and fury in her eyes. She grabbed her clothes from the floor, got dressed and walked out of the room.

When got to her suite, she reached for her mobile phone and quickly dialed a number. It rang a couple of times before the person on the other end of the line picked.

"Hello Mr. Bolton? It's Gabriella Montez. I have something to tell you about Troy…" Gabriella said

*******************************************

Ryan was on the phone with Martha when he saw Sharpay running down the lobby, crying and bleeding. He knew instantly that something was wrong. He quickly said goodbye to Martha and ran towards Sharpay's direction.

He found her in the music room, curled up on the floor and crying her eyes out. The sight broke his heart. He scooped her into his arms and holds her tightly. He knew that Troy has something to do with this as he recalled everything Troy said last night. He curled one of his hands into a fist, wanting to punch Troy squarely in the face. He saw Troy by the door; his eyes were as red as Sharpay's. He wanted to confront him but when he looked back down at Sharpay and it reminded him how much his sister needs him at that moment; he motioned for him to go away. He wanted to asked her what happened but he knew his twin all too well and what she needs right now is to cry.

He'll stay with her until her cries subside. He'll stay with her until she can talk again. He needed to know what happened. He wanted to know what happened.

*******************************************

It took several hours before she really stopped crying. Ryan tried asking her what happened but she wouldn't speak. All she said was, "I'm going home" and then she was out of the room. When she turned around the corner, she saw Troy sitting on the floor with his head on his hands. She stopped dead on her track as Troy looked up to her, his eyes pleading, apologizing.

"Shar…" Troy began but was immediately cut off by Sharpay.

"Don't Troy. Just don't" She said and walked away.

Troy was about to follow her when he felt a strong hand restrained him. He turned around and saw that it was Ryan.

"Care to tell me what happened?" Ryan said as he signaled Troy to follow him. He glanced towards Sharpay's direction and saw that she was already gone. He knows that he needs to talk to Sharpay but he also knows that it was too soon and she's probably not yet in the best state to listen to anything he's going to say. So he decided to follow Ryan instead.

Ryan led him to the grand dining room; he figured that the more people there are in a certain place, the less tempting it is to kill Troy. They sat down at the bar as Ryan motioned for the waiter to give them drinks – non-alcoholic drinks, of course. There was an awkward silence between them. Ryan didn't know where to start and Troy wasn't really mentally and emotionally with him.

"So what happened?" Ryan began, refusing to look at Troy.

Troy remained silent. "I suggest that you start talking Troy or I swear I don't know what will happen to you" Ryan said.

Troy sighed and looked at Ryan. "I screwed up, Ryan. I screwed up bigtime"

"What exactly happened?"

"I don't remember. All I know is last night I was waiting for her. She was three hours late and I was mad at her so I kept drinking and drinking. I left dozens of messages but she didn't return any of my calls. Then when I woke up this morning, I was in bed with Gabriella and we're naked. Sharpay saw everything. She ran out before I got the chance to explain anything."

"How did you end up sleeping with Gabriella?"

"I don't know."

Ryan breathed deeply and said "Do you know why she was even late Troy? Why you can't get a hold of her last night?"

Troy shook her head as Ryan continued "Her flight was delayed because of the storm. She would have called us but her phone was stolen. She even bought a phone as soon as she got here but your phone was off. Guess now we know why."

"Oh"

"What do you plan to do now?"

"I don't know" Troy repeated.

Ryan sighed out of frustration, "You don't know? So what do you know Troy? Cause from where I'm standing, you hurt my sister and in my book, you're as good as dead. Merry Christmas Troy" and with that Ryan left.

Troy knew that he should be scared of Ryan but his mind already drifted back to Sharpay. He needs to see her. He needs to talk to her. He can't imagine going through Christimas, New Year's of forever without her by his side. He couldn't imagine a life without Sharpay. He didn't want to. He walked out of the Mansion and signaled for valet attendant to bring his car around when his phone rang. He quickly reached for his phone, hoping that it was Sharpay but was disappointed to see that it was his dad.

"Dad, I can't talk right now. I have to…" Troy said but was quickly interrupted by his dad.

"Troy, I'm sending the jet. You need to come home. Now" Jack Bolton demanded. He is one of the country's leading businessmen. He is the owner of Bolt Corporation, the leading manufacturer and supplier of jet planes, limousines, tanks and helicopters of the US government.

"But dad, I have something important to…" Troy reasoned out

"Now, Troy. You need to come home now" Jack said.

Troy could feel the sense of urgency and reluctantly agreed with his dad. "Ok. I'll be there as soon as I can"

He ended the call just as the valet attendant pulled up on the driveway with his car, a 2009 Mazda 6. Before driving off, he quickly dialed Sharpay's new number. It was a good thing that her calls registered even though his phone was off.

"_Pay, I know you're really mad at me right now but I have to talk to you. I need to explain what you saw. I'm sorry. I will love you always and forever"_

*******************************************

_Back in Albuquerque…_

Kelsi, Martha, Zeke and Jason were watching 'Superhero Movie' at the Nielsen's living room. It was raining that day and they were really not in the mood to do anything. They were laughing their heads off when Kelsi's phone rang. It was Sharpay.

"Guys, guys, It's Pay" Kelsi reached for the remote and paused the movie. She flipped her phone open and put her on speaker "Hey Pay, so how's the slopes?"

There was silence. The gang looked at each other.

"Pay, are you there?" Kelsi repeated.

"I wouldn't know. I'm not in Aspen" Sharpay said

"Okay. Where are you? Are you okay?" Kelsi asked.

"Can I come in?" Sharpay answered

"Come in where?" Martha asked, confused.

There was silence again.

They were about to ask another question when they heard a knock on the door. Kelsi ran to the door while the rest of the gang followed her. They found Sharpay standing on the front porch, drenched from the rain and her eyes were red and puffy. Kelsi and Jason ran towards her and helped her inside the house while Martha and Zeke went back inside to grab some towels and to heat up some water.

Martha came back with a bunch of towels, handed some to Kelsi and started drying Sharpay, who stared blankly at the television. Jason and Zeke's fear of emotional outburst kept them on the other side of the living room.

"Pay, what happened?" Kelsi tentatively began, rubbing her back.

Sharpay looked back and forth from Kelsi and Martha and then rested her head on Martha's shoulder as she continuously stare at the television.

"Did something happen between you and Troy?" Jason inquired.

With the mention of Troy's name, the sobs that she has been holding back broke free again and all they can do was hold her and let her cry.

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**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews I got for the last chapterand since all are dying to know what will happen next... I just have to put this chapter up. :) Enjoy and as usual REVIEW! ****The more reviews I get the faster I'll be able to upload and update the next chapter! So once again, REVIEW!**


	7. Last Christmas

**A/N: I do not own HSM.**

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**Chapter 6 – Last Christmas**

"A little more to the left" Darby Evans said as she guides the design team with the streamers. That night was the annual Evans-Bolton Christmas Ball and this year, it was the Evans' turn to host the event. Everyone who you need to know in the business industry and in Albuquerque was going to be in attendance that night.

"There" Darby exclaimed and then turned to Sharpay who was sitting at the bottom of the staircase "So what do you think?"

The past week after that 'incident' Sharpay wasn't really talking or speaking to anyone but she hasn't cried either. She was just constantly playing the locket that Troy gave her. Darby just rolled her eyes. She knows that her daughter is going through a tough time right now with Troy but it wasn't in their nature to meddle in their children's love lives. "What do you think about the streamer?" she asked again

Sharpay snapped back to reality "Uh…yeah…that's okay."

Darby nodded and just focused back on the decorators since they had less than 7 hours before the party. Just then the doorbell rang, Darby answered the door and found Taylor, Martha and Kelsi all smiles with their bags in tow.

"Merry Christmas Mrs. Evans" the three greeted.

"Merry Christmas darlings. Come in, come in!" Darby replied.

They stepped inside and found Sharpay spacing out again. While Kelsi and Martha talked to Darby, Taylor sat down beside Sharpay.

"Hey" Taylor said softly as Sharpay faced her and smiled weakly.

"Hey" Sharpay answered

"Look, I know that you're still not ok but can you promise me one thing?"

Sharpay creased her eyebrows in confusion. "Promise me you'll try to have fun tonight?" Taylor continued.

"Try?" Sharpay repeated.

"Yeah, just try. Please?" Taylor said.

Sharpay nodded as Kelsi and Martha approached them, smiling. "Okay, enough drama for today. Now come on, it's time to get dress and par-ty" Martha exclaimed.

Kelsi, Taylor and Sharpay laughed as they all started going up to Sharpay's room.

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_During the Evans-Bolton's Christmas Party_

The doorbell rang for the nth time tonight and Sharpay was really getting annoyed by it as she smooth the invisible creases of her silver knee length dress courtesy of Prada. The theme of the Christmas Ball was snowflakes and so everybody was dressed in white and silver. She looked at her watch and groaned "It's almost midnight, who could be arriving at this hour?"

Ryan shrugged and went ahead to open the door while Sharpay stayed with the rest of the gang, her back to the door. Right now, Chad was throwing a tiny little tantrum "When can we exchange presents?"

Taylor rolled her eyes and stated "Patience is a virtue, Chad…"

"Something that he'll never learn" Kelsi interrupted. The gang laughed but then suddenly stopped when they saw someone, unexpected, by the door and then eyed Sharpay. She noticed this and slowly turned around. There it was. Something she thought she would never see. Something that broke her heart all over again. Troy and Gabriella.

Sharpay inhaled and exhaled deeply and clutched her wrist tighter, hoping that the tears wouldn't fall.

"Hey" Ryan whispered

"Hey" Sharpay whispered back

"You are strong, okay?" Ryan ordered

Sharpay nodded and looked down at her hands.

The gang was silent. They didn't really know what to say as they looked back and forth from Sharpay to Troy. They could see that tears started to well up on Sharpay's eyes and they were mad as hell at Troy for putting her through so much pain. In their opinion, it was bad enough that Troy slept with Gabriella and didn't even come after Sharpay to explain what happened but bringing Gabriella as his date to the Christmas Ball was pushing it too far. Gabriella, by the way, was wearing a red halter knee-length dress with gold boots – something that Sharpay already wore the year before and wasn't really aligned with this years Christmas Ball theme.

With all the glares that the gang has been throwing at them, Troy and Gabriella seemed that they didn't get the message that they were not wanted as they approached them with Gabriella leading the way.

"Hey guys" Gabriella greeted them.

"You have some nerve showing up here" Martha said as she took a step forward, curling her fist and was getting ready to punch Gabriella in the face while Zeke hold her back.

Gabriella smirked and snaked her arm around Troy's "Well from what I know is that this is an Evans-Bolton's party and since I'm with Troy, I think I have the right to be here"

"You little pathetic bitch" Taylor exclaimed and was seconds from punching Gabriella's face when Jason and Chad held her back. Gabriella also aimed forward at Kelsi but slightly disappointed when Troy didn't stop her.

"I will not step down to your level" Gabriella said as she tugged on Troy's arm

"Why? Are you afraid to get your fake Manalo's dirty?" Kelsi said.

"At least they're mine and not borrowed" Gabriella retorted back.

"So you admit that they're fake? Oh well, it figures you were always such a copy cat" Martha defended.

"Well, it takes one to know one" Gabriella said

While the girls were busy arguing and the boys holding them back, Sharpay tugged Ryan's arm and slipped a white envelope in his hands. Ryan looked at her, confused and then down at the envelope.

"Just give him that, please?" Sharpay asked.

Ryan nodded as Sharpay walked towards Darby. She whispered something to her and she nodded as Sharpay headed out of the grand ballroom.

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Troy watched her from afar as she walked out of the room. He wanted to follow her, to apologize to her, to explain to her what happened, to hold her, to hug her and to kiss her. But with his father, Gabriella and the gang right there, he knew it was next to impossible.

He took a step forward when he suddenly felt a strong arm restrained him. He turned around saw Ryan.

"Don't even try" Ryan warned him

"I just want to talk to her" Troy said.

"Why? So you can hurt her even more?" Ryan asked.

Troy was silent and so Ryan continued, "Look, I'm not going to throw you out because this is also your party as much as it ours but if you come anywhere near her I swear Troy, you'll wish you have never been born."

Troy gulped loudly as Ryan handed him a white envelope. "Here. It's from her."

He hesitantly took it and opened it. Troy's eyes doubled in shock. It was a letter from Kobe Bryant.

_Troy,_

_Congratulations! You just got 5 2-hour practice sessions with me. _

_I'm sorry I just have to. Anyway, your lovely girlfriend (she made me say that) arranged for you and me to play one-on-one, something that will help you improve your game. But since basketball season will start soon, practice session will start next week at the University of Albuquerque gymnasium. I'll give you a call regarding the date and time._

_Kobe_

_P.S. I'm also giving you one of my limited edition NBA card. It's signed so don't go selling it on eBay. _

_You are one lucky guy. Sharpay's a good catch. Don't let her go._

"That's why she was in Italy" Ryan said and then walked towards the gang, stopping the fight.

Troy looked up with his mouth wide open. He felt himself go weak in the knees and the next thing he knew Gabriella was dragging him out of the room.

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_In Sharpay's room…_

Sharpay sat by the window, crying. This is the first Christmas she wasn't with Troy and it was killing her slowly on the inside and tonight was the first time that she saw Troy after what happened and seeing him with her hurt her like hell. She looked down and saw the locket that Troy gave her two years ago.

*******************************************

_Flashback…_

"_Merry Christmas" Troy said as he kept on greeting everyone. He was on his way to Sharpay's room to give his girlfriend her Christmas gift. This was their first Christmas together and both were ecstatic. _

_After a few more Merry Christmas and shaking hands, Troy found himself at the bottom of the staircase. He quickly jogged up the stairs and ran towards the left hallway until he found the pink door with a big pink star with silver lining hanging. Troy laughed as he heard Miley Cyrus' 'All I Want For Christmas' blasting in the background. He knocked three times until he heard someone yelled from the inside._

"_Come in"_

_Troy opened the door and saw Sharpay by her full-length mirror. She was wearing a yellow sleeveless knee-length dress that accentuates her tan and her smooth legs. 'God! She's beautiful' he thought._

_Sharpay turned around and saw him by the door with his mouth wide open. She giggled and said "Earth to Troy? Hello? Are you just going to stand there or are you going to give me my first Christmas kiss?"_

_Troy smiled and walked hurriedly to Sharpay. He twirled her around and automatically wrapped his arms around her waist as her arms were automatically around his neck. "Wow" Troy said admiring Sharpay's beauty._

"_Is that all you can say?" Sharpay asked_

_Troy placed a soft kiss on her lips and then pulled away._

_Sharpay rolled her eyes and said "You call that a kiss?"_

"_No but this is" Troy said as he placed his lips on hers, pulling her into one passionate kiss. After a few minutes, they pulled apart when the need for air became necessary. _

_Sharpay was in awe and pressed her forehead on Troy's. "Merry Christmas baby" Troy said._

"_Merry Christmas too. I can't wait to give you my present later. You're going to love it" Sharpay said._

"_I'm sure of it but right now, I want to give you mine but don't worry you'll still have something to open for later" Troy reached something on his pocket as he motioned for Sharpay to turn around. _

_She giggled and did what she's told. "Now close your eyes" Troy whispered into her ear._

"_What is this Troy?" Sharpay questioned. Troy rolled his eyes and put the necklace around Sharpay's neck._

_Sharpay felt something cold around her neck and opened her eyes. She saw a beautiful heart shaped locket hanging around her neck as tears started to well up in her eyes. Troy went in front of her, cupping her cheeks and wiping away the tears that were staining them._

"_Okay that was not the reaction I was hoping for" Troy said softly._

_Sharpay smiled and quickly kissed Troy passionately. They pulled apart minutes later. "Was that better?" Sharpay teasingly said_

"_Much better" Troy said, tightening his grip around her waist. "Open the locket" Troy continued._

_Sharpay opened the locket and found two pictures of her and Troy. "You are my past and you are my present and hopefully you'll be future. I love you"_

"_I love you too Troy" Sharpay said._

_They were about to lean in for another kiss when they heard someone knock on the door. _

*******************************************

Knock. Knock.

Sharpay snapped back to reality, wiping the tears off her face. She turned to see who was at the door. It was Kelsi.

Kelsi smiled weakly at her, knowing that she just cried and upon seeing the locket in her hands.

"Hey, what are you doing up here?" Kelsi asked as she sat next to Sharpay and put a hand over shoulders.

"Kels, do you think I did the right thing?" Sharpay asked, staring at the locket.

"I don't know, Pay. But you know me if something can still be fixed, I'll try and fix it…I know it hurts like hell right now because you love him. I'll be much worried if you're not affected with what happened but hopefully in the end, all the pain will be worth it." Kelsi said as Sharpay puts her head on Kelsi's shoulder as the water works starts again.

"I hope so" Sharpay whispered as she let the locket dropped on the floor.

*******************************************

_Outside Sharpay's room…_

Troy sank on the floor outside Sharpay's bedroom, crying with his head on his hands. He really had hurt Sharpay.

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**A/N: Okay...Kelsi's line was from the movie One More Chance, so i don't own it. Also, i'm not really sure how Kobe Bryant talks so... forgive me if it doesn't sound like him.**

**Sorry it took sometime for me upload this chapter. I just had a lot of things on my plate right now. So as usual, i hope you enjoy this chapter and REVIEW! (Please don't forget to review my other story 'Heaven and Hell' - Chapter 15 is UP!**

**Anyway, I would like to thank the following for their awesome reviews: LoveItsOnItsWay, neila cross, hansongirl14, Duhitskatieox, XxMeRockSxX, and Writer Rider Dirty Thirties.**


	8. Five Seconds

**A/N: Sorry this took so long… So here you go I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**I do not own HSM**

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Chapter 7 – Five Seconds

_Day before school starts…_

Ryan woke up to the blaring sound of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", which was obviously coming from Sharpay's bedroom. In truth, Ryan was still worried about her. Yes, she cried her eyes out when she found out about Troy and has been initially in a state of shock and depression but now things seemed to turn around. Sharpay seemed to have a made a 180-turn and that what has Ryan worried.

Ryan lazily stood up from his bed and walked towards Sharpay's room. He knocked on her pink door and waited for her to answer. It took three knocks before he heard her sobs over the music. He tried to open the door by wriggling the knob but to no avail. He pressed his ears against the door, he could hear Jonas Brothers' "Before the Storm" playing but couldn't hear her anymore.

"Pay?" He yelled as he banged the door with his fist but there was no answer.

"Pay, open the door please" Still no answer.

He ran towards his room, grabbed the house keys from his bedside drawer and went back to Sharpay's room. He inserted the key, twisted the door knob in one quick movement and opened the door. He saw Sharpay curled up against on floor, her eyes red and puffy.

He ran toward her and held her.

"I don't know if I can do this Ry" Sharpay whispered

Ryan looked at her and said "You can and you will. Me and the gang will be there and take care of you"

"But a life without Troy?" Sharpay asked

"Is still a life with us… your family and friends. Don't stop your life because of him. He's not worth it" Ryan answered

Sharpay nodded as Ryan continued "So tomorrow, first day back in school. I want you to be the same old, bitchy, bossy and drama queen Sharpay that East High loves"

Sharpay smiled and kissed his Ryan on the cheek. "Thanks Ry"

"No problem" Ryan kissed her forehead and tucked her in.

*******************************************

_At the Bolton's Residence…_

Jack Bolton entered his palatial mansion only to hear booming sound of Paramore's "Caught Myself" all throughout the house.

"_Troy"_ He thought as he shook his head in disappointment and concern. Just as he dropped his car keys on the empty fish bowl near the door, Gregory, the Bolton's bulter appeared from the kitchen.

"Good Evening Sir" Gregory greeted, reaching for Jack's golf bag.

"Where is he?"

"He's in the gym, Sir"

"How long has he been there?"

"Since 10am this morning"

Jack took a look at his watch. It was already 11pm. He turned to Gregory and asked "Has he been like this the whole day?"

Gregory nodded and said "Pretty much. He's been on the treadmill the entire day. Not eating anything and only asking for a liter of energy drink every hour."

Jack waved Gregory off and headed towards the gym. As he got closer and closer, the music got louder and louder. He pressed his ears against the door and could hear Troy's grunts and groans. He reached for the door knob and twisted it open.

*******************************************

Troy stopped when he saw his father stepped inside the gym. He sat on the press bench, grabbed his energy drink and downed the whole bottle.

"What do you want Dad?" Troy asked as he stepped on the treadmill again.

Jack shook his head and sat on the bench that Troy just vacated. "I'm sorry that you have to go through this son. I know you love Sharpay and we love her as well. She's like a daughter to us and I am hurting to see you both in such despair"

Troy quickly hit the STOP button on the treadmill and turned to his father. "You're sorry? Gee… I would have never guessed"

Jack sighed exasperatedly, stood up and said "Look, I'm sorry that you're hurting right now but it was you who made the mistake in the first place. If you haven't gotten yourself drunk and slept with that bitch… none of this would have happened. Now, suck it up and make this work. We don't want the press to find out about this. You made this mess so now you have to own it up. I will not let you ruin the Bolton's name that we worked so hard for" and with that Jack left.

Troy screamed and started hitting the punching bag while muttering

"Stupid delayed flight" _punch._

"Stupid overflowing champagne" _punch. _

"Stupid"_ punch_ "Stupid" _punch _"Stupid"

After half an hour of punching and cursing the entire situation he is in, Troy's phone rang. He let the phone ring, hoping that the person on the other end would get the idea that he does not want to talk. 15 minutes and probably 10 missed calls later, Troy got irritated with the ringing sound and decided to answer the phone. He reached for it and checked the caller ID. It was Gabriella.

"What do you want?" Troy answered

"Hello to you too Troy" Gabriella sarcastically replied

"What do you want?" He repeated. He wasn't really in the mood to speak to anyone especially her.

"Ookay… I would just like to remind you that you have to pick me up for school tomorrow and…"

Troy interrupted "Why do I have pick you up? Drive to school yourself"

"Remember what your father told you" Gabriella stated

"How could I forget when you keep on reminding me every single time"

"So pick me up tomorrow at 7:30"

"Why so early? School doesn't start until 8AM and you live like 5 minutes from school literally" Troy complained knowing that the last thing he wants to do is let the whole school know he's with Gabriella. Although, there is a big possibility that everyone already knows. Plus news travels fast in Albuquerque especially news about them.

"I want you to show me off"

"Do you really have to rub it in her face?"

"Yes. Now go to sleep. Bye Troy"

Troy stared at the phone for a couple of minutes, tempted to throw it but decided otherwise. There were a lot of pictures of him and Sharpay on that phone and he sure wasn't going to let them go.

He continued hitting the punching bag for a couple of minutes before calling a night. He went up to his room and took a nice long, hot shower hoping that it would help him fall asleep fast.

Several minutes later Troy found himself lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He turned to his bedside table and saw a picture of him and Sharpay right before winter break. He reached out, grabbed the picture frame and hugged it with all his might.

"If you only know how sorry I am for hurting you…If you only know" Troy whispered, letting a few tears stain his cheek as sleep took over him.

*******************************************

_Two months later…_

Everything was slowly falling into place. The whole school, teachers included, was shocked when they found out about the whole Sharpay-Troy-Gabriella fiasco. Nobody knew what to think or say with what happen since it happened so fast.

Sharpay went on to do the winter musicale "Fabulous" – much to Gabriella's dismay -with the whole gang supporting her. She did performance after performance flawlessly to perfection and Mrs. Darbus couldn't be any happier. Ryan continued to be the over-protective brother, never leaving Sharpay's side. He even had to swap some classes so that he can have it with her. The rest of the gang also stayed with Sharpay the whole time making it harder for Troy to even approach or throw a glance at her without one of them glaring at him. Although Chad, Zeke and Jason were civil to him during basketball practice, so that at least eased some tension Troy was bottling inside.

As for Gabriella, she was more clingy and possessive than ever. She changed all her classes so that she can keep an eye on Troy and was always doing some sort of PDA with him. At first he would refuse but she would always use the "I'll tell your father" card and he would eventually give in. He was in short Gabriella's puppet.

Troy couldn't take it anymore. Everyday he's with Gabriella and doing whatever she wants was just killing him. His only guilty pleasure was staring and stealing glances at Sharpay. Before school, in between classes, free period, during lunch, after school and during drama practice.

He was hoping against hope that she would notice him staring, look at him and he could tell her with his eyes how sorry he was and that he still loves her. That time never came and Troy slowly loosing hope and faith.

"_Maybe she had moved on" _he would entertain this thought for a few seconds and then would completely disregard it.

But two months after that wretched night, Troy was finally starting to believe that it was true.

"Just one last look" he said to himself as he hurriedly ran down the hallway and towards the auditorium. Tomorrow was the final performance night for the winter musicale so that means today was the dress rehearsals. He crept into the back of the auditorium and hid behind the curtains. He peeked inside the auditorium and there she was sitting in the first row in all her beauty with the gang, laughing at something Chad said.

He smiled when he saw her laugh. He wanted to run over to her, wrap his arms around her, hug her, and kiss her. Just like what it's supposed to.

"Just one look, please Pay. Just one" Troy begged as Sharpay just continued to laugh at what Chad was saying.

"Please" Troy whispered again but Sharpay didn't even glance toward his direction. He took a step forward but stopped when he heard the main doors open and saw Mrs. Darbus walked in.

He looked back at Sharpay and whispered "Five more seconds"

"Okay people. Listen up…" Darbus began

"Five…"

"Today is the last day of rehearsals…"

"Four…"

"…and I want to congratulate each and every one of you for a successful run…"

"Three…"

"… especially the lovely Sharpay Evans who gave a flawless performance one after the other…"

"Two… Come on, Pay… Just one look"

"... with that said, no rehearsals for today…"

"One and a half…"

"…but nonetheless I'll expect a perfect show tomorrow…"

"One…"

"…Bravo my young thespians!" Mrs. Darbus ended as everyone clapped in appreciation.

"Zero." Troy said. He bowed down in disappointment and walked out of the auditorium.

*******************************************

"…Bravo my young thespians!" Mrs. Darbus ended as everyone clapped in appreciation.

Sharpay stood up from her chair and got appreciations from his fellow actors and actress as she accepted them with a warm smile on her face. Her smile disappeared when she turned to look at the side of the stage (where Troy was) and saw Troy walking out of the auditorium.

Taylor saw everything that happened and nudged Sharpay. "You ok?"

Sharpay nodded and smiled "Yeah"

"Hey, you two just going to stand there or are we going to go and eat?" Chad yelled from the main door where they were waiting for the two girls.

Taylor rolled her eyes and yelled back "Yeah, yeah we're coming"

She turned back to Sharpay and said "You think you can still handle it?"

Sharpay inhaled and exhaled deeply and said "I have to"

Taylor smiled, looping her arms around Sharpay's and dragged her out of the auditorium.

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**A/N: So there you have it… **

**Troy's scene where he was counting down was from the movie of the same title so I don't own it… but I just love that scene, it was simply heartbreaking. **

**So give me some love people... click the REVIEW button below and tell me what you guys think of this chapter… please, please, with a cherry on top! :) xoxo Anne**


	9. Spring Dance

**A/N: This is the quickest update I did since I started posting here… I was just really inspired by the awesome reviews I got from the last chapter especially from neila cross and kimmylovetizz… this chapter is dedicated to you girls! Hope you enjoy this!**

**I do not own HSM!**

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**Chapter 8 – Spring Dance**

_One month later... Spring Dance…_

"Pay, what do you think of this one?" Kelsi asked as she opened the dressing room door and stepped out in a Herve Leger bandage dress and pewter Giuseppe Zanotti heels.

Sharpay made a quick rundown of Kelsi's outfit, smiled and said "Perfect. Jason will have a hard time keeping his hands off you."

Kelsi smiled and checked herself out in the mirror "That's what actually I'm aiming for. Tay, you're next"

"I'm not sure if this dress is for me" Taylor said over the dressing room door.

Martha rolled her eyes and exclaimed "Would get your butt out of here? Pay and I still needs to try on our dresses"

Sharpay laughed and said "You will look awesome Tay. Don't worry about it"

"Okay, here I come" Taylor said as she slowly opened the dressing room door, wearing a sexy Dolce & Gabbana bustier dress and sky-high Manalo Blahnik metallic heels.

"Oh. My. Gah… I hope Chad has insurance because he's going to be falling for you really quick when he sees you in that number" Martha said as the three girls looked at her in confusion.

"Okay, you've been hanging with the boys way too much" Taylor said. Kelsi and Sharpay laughed as she and Martha stepped inside the dressing room to change.

After 10 minutes, Kelsi was getting impatient and wants to change out of the dress badly "Are you guys ready yet?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay me first" Martha yelled back. She stepped out of her dressing room wearing a strapless Alexander Wang corset dress and an Yves St. Laurent "Trib Two's" pumps.

"Hubba… Hubba…" Kelsi motioned

"Looks like Zeke's going to be one happy guy come prom night" Taylor teased.

"He should be" Martha teased back, then turned to the remaining closed dressing room and continued "It's your turn Payday"

Sharpay's dressing room door opened. She was wearing a silk Tadashi Shoji one-shoulder dress and a silver Stuart Weitzman peep toes.

"Wow" Kelsi gasped.

"Wow's right Pay" Taylor added

"You look absolutely stunning" Martha finished.

"Come on guys, it's just a dress. Nothing spectacular about it" Sharpay said as Martha grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face the full-length mirror. She smiled at what she saw.

Kelsi saw her smile and said "You believe us now?"

Sharpay nodded as her phone beeped. She grabs it and reads the text message. It was from Ryan.

_To Sharpay_

_Are you girls done yet? Me and the guys will be there in 10 minutes_

Sharpay rolled her eyes and turned to the girls "Well we better take these clothes off. The boys will be here in 10 minutes."

The girls scrambled to get into the dressing rooms and since there were only two rooms, Sharpay and Taylor shared one while Kelsi and Martha shared the other.

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_Day before the spring dance…_

Troy was at the gym doing some last minute suicides when he noticed Jason, Chad and Zeke walking towards him. He stood up, getting ready for the inevitable – getting pummeled by his former friends – but boy was he wrong.

"Hey Troy" Chad began tentatively

"Chad. Zeke. Jason" Troy greeted one by one.

"Um…listen… I know that we haven't been talking for the last three months because of… you know…" Zeke said

"I know but if you guys can just let me explain" Troy reasoned out but was interrupted by Chad

"Look we don't want an explanation because that's between you and Pay. We're here because we have been unfair to you." Chad explained

"I mean you're our friend as well and we just kind of shut you out after what happened" Jason added.

"I don't blame you" Troy admitted

An awkward silence followed – because guys aren't really good with this kind of stuff – until Troy decided to speak up, offering his hands "Friends?"

"Friends" Chad, Zeke and Jason said, each taking the time to do some man-shake with Troy. They laughed and talked through out basketball practice. They talked about what has happened for the past three months excluding the whole Sharpay-Troy-Gabriella thing: Zeke and Martha finally dating and both of them got accepted to the Culinary Institute of America, Jason getting into NYU, Chad and Taylor being accepted in Columbia and Ryan and Kelsi going to Juilliard. The mention of colleges reminded Troy that he and Sharpay planned to go to the same college and how they just applied to one school – NYU. He got his acceptance letter yesterday and had heard through the grapevine that Sharpay got accepted as well. Although Troy wasn't sure if Sharpay will still go considering their current predicament. The boys were having fun talking until Chad's phone rang. It was Taylor, reminding him to get the girl's corsages for tomorrow's dance.

After Chad hang up, the boys said goodbye to Troy. "Look, we totally would ask you to ride with us to the dance tomorrow but…" Zeke trailed off

"It's okay. Don't worry about it" Troy said and with that the boys parted ways.

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_Night of the spring dance…_

Mrs. Darbus signaled the DJ to stop playing the music as she made her way to the stage. Most of the students groaned but some were ecstatic knowing the reason behind the interruption.

"Okay. Okay. I'll make this quick. It's now time to announce the Spring Dance King and Queen" Mrs. Darbus announced while the students clapped in excitement.

There were only two couples nominated for Spring Dance King and Queen: (1) Troy Bolton and Gabriella Monte; and (2) Chad Danforth and Taylor McKessie. Sharpay dropped out of the running one month ago since she did not feel like a queen at this time.

"May I request the nominees to please proceed to the stage?" Mrs. Darbus said as the nominees slowly approached the stage.

"Okay. Can I have the envelope please?" Mrs Darbus continued as Michael (the skater dude from the first HSM) handed her the envelope.

"We'll be announcing the Spring Dance King first…" She said opening the envelope then turning to Troy and Chad "…Good luck boys… Drum roll please… and this year's Spring Dance King is…Troy Bolton" Mrs. Darbus announced and placed the plastic crown on top of Troy's head as the rest of the student body clapped and cheered for Troy.

Sharpay was a little sad that Chad didn't won but he was still happy for Troy because in reality, she still loved him even though it hurts so much to see him with Gabriella.

The cheering went on for another two minutes before Mrs. Darbus voice flooded the entire gym "Okay, now for our Spring Dance Queen…" she opened the envelope, read the winner's name and smiled "…well, this is completely unexpected but truly well-deserved…" she said. Gabriella anticipating that she won since Troy was crowned Spring Dance King and took a step forward. She was wearing yet another 'Sharpay' look – purple leather Elise Overland dress, accentuated with a Balenciaga belt and a Paul & Joe Sister "Gypsi" shoes – something Sharpay wore two weeks ago to some party. Taylor rolled her eyes when she saw what Gabriella just did.

"…for this I would like to request that Troy crowns our Queen…" Mrs. Darbus added as Gabriella took another step forward while Troy just nodded

"…and our Spring Dance Queen is… drum roll please… our Spring Dance Queen is Sharpay Evans" Mrs. Darbus announced as the crowd erupted in applause and the spotlight found Sharpay shocked with her mouth hanging open as the gang cheered on for Sharpay who seemed to be stuck in place.

Enraged, Gabriella stormed to Mrs. Darbus and asked "How could that be? She's not even a candidate"

"She just a got tidal wave of votes" Mrs. Darbus explained as she shows Gabriella the tally sheet and continued "See more than half of East High voted for her, Taylor got 35% of the votes while you only got 4 votes. Better luck next time dear"

Gabriella screamed her head off as she grabbed the tally sheet, tore it apart and walked out of the stage. Although she didn't won, Taylor was happy that it was Sharpay who beat her out instead of Gabriella.

Everyone stared at Gabriella in disgust. "Okay… now where is Miss Evans?" Mrs. Darbus interrupted

The spotlight was still on Sharpay who seemed to be stuck in place. Kelsi and Martha pushed her forward and said "Go. Go. Go"

Ryan grabbed her hand and escorted her towards the stage. She looked at Ryan, her eyes filled with question.

"It's okay. You deserve to be happy. You deserve this" Ryan assured her.

When Sharpay made it to the stage, Troy held out his hand which she hesitantly took. Their eyes locked with each other and for a moment it seemed that they were only the 2 people in the room up until Mrs. Darbus interrupted – boy she sometimes has the worst timing.

"Mr. Bolton if you would be so kind and crown your Queen" Mrs. Darbus said.

Troy smiled when he heard the words 'your Queen'. He gently placed the plastic crown on top of Sharpay's golden locks. She really looked like a queen with or without the crown.

"Now it's time for the king and queen to dance" Mrs. Darbus said as the lights dim except for the spotlight at the center of the dance floor and music filled the room. Troy guided Sharpay onto the dance floor, getting lost in each other's eyes.

Instinctively, Sharpay wrapped her arms around Troy's neck while Troy placed her arm around her waist as they swayed gently to the music of Mandy Moore's "It's Gonna be love"

_It's gonna be me, baby _

_It's gonna be you, baby _

_Time, I've been patient for so long _

_How can I pretend to be so strong? _

_Looking at you, baby _

_Feeling it too, baby _

_If I'm asking you to hold me tight _

_Then it's gonna be all right _

_Chorus:_

_It's gonna be love _

_It's gonna be great _

_It's gonna be more than I can take _

_It's gonna be free _

_It's gonna be real _

_It's gonna change everything I feel _

_It's gonna be sad _

_It's gonna be true _

_It's gonna be me, baby _

_It's gonna be you, baby _

_It's gonna be..... _

_It's gonna be love _

_Time, am I restless or a fool?_

_How can you pretend to be so cruel? _

_Maybe it's me, baby _

_Maybe it's true, baby _

_Maybe it's everything we're dreaming of _

_We've waited long enough _

_Repeat Chorus_

_The sooner you let two hearts beat together _

_The sooner you'll know this love is forever _

_(It's gonna be love) _

_Love needs time now or never _

_(It's gonna be love) _

_It's gonna be tough _

_You gotta believe _

_It's gonna be strong enough _

_It's gonna be love _

_It's gonna be great _

_It's gonna be more than I can take _

_It's gonna be free _

_It's gonna be real _

_It's gonna change everything I feel _

_It's gonna be sad _

_It's gonna be true _

_It's gonna be all i want to do_

_It's gonna be hard _

_It's gonna be tough_

_It's gonna be more than just enough _

_It's gonna be love _

_Oh, it's gonna be love _

_It's gonna be sad It's gonna be true _

_It's gonna be me, baby (me, baby) _

_It's gonna be you, baby _

_It's gonna be me, baby, hey (me, baby) _

_It's gonna be you _

_It's gonna be....(yeah) _

_It's gonna be love_

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As the song ended, Sharpay stared at Troy's ocean blue eyes.

"I love you and I'm sorry. Please take me back" Troy said.

She slipped her dainty hands into Troy's and said "I can't. I'm sorry" and then ran away, crying.

Troy unwillingly let her go, his heart breaking with every step she's taking away from him. He tightened his fist, restraining himself from going after her when he felt something on his hand. With tears welling in his eyes, he looked down and saw the promise ring he gave her sitting at the palm of his hand.

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**A/N: Simply a heartbreaking moment but it was Troypay nonetheless.**

**Show me some love by clicking on the REVIEW button below and telling me what you think of this chapter xoxo Anne**


	10. The END

**A/N: Okay so this is not yet the end of the story. It's just the chapter title ******

**Btw, thank you so much for the reviews I got for the last chapter.**

**I do not own HSM or the title of the chapter, which is by the way the title of Black Eyed Peas new album – totally awesome album.**

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**Chapter 8 – The E.N.D.**

"Pay, wait!" Troy shouted as he entered the hallway just outside the gym.

Sharpay stopped dead in her tracks, slowly faced him and saw that he was a good twenty feet away from her. The gang slowly appeared from behind him waiting to see what will happen next.

"What do you want Bolton?" Sharpay said, turning on her "Ice Queen' face to stop her tears from falling.

Troy was taken aback with her calling him by his last name and took him a couple of seconds before finally catching his voice. He approached her and held her hands, trying to slip the ring back in her ring finger. Sharpay noticed this, immediately took her hand back and begged, "Don't Troy"

Troy flinched with this sudden movement and let a tear stain his cheek "Please don't do this, Pay"

"Don't do what?"

"Don't end 'us'" Troy said, holding the promise ring up to her face.

"Me? I'm the one ending this?" Troy nodded as Sharpay grabbed the ring and continued, poking the ring on Troy's chest "I'm not the one who's ending things Troy. You were the one who did this to us. You were the one who slept with Gabriella. You were the one who brought her at our Christmas Party. You were the one who stood by her for months while I was hurting in pain for what you did. You were the one who brought her here to the Spring Dance. You. You. You" Sharpay punched Troy's chest as tears streamed down her cheeks and her body sinking down the floor.

He hugged her and held her tight, trying to calm her down. He hated seeing her cry and even worse he hated himself for doing this to her.

*******************************************

Ryan took a step forward when he saw Sharpay sink down the floor but was restrained by Taylor.

He turned to look at her and said "Let me go Tay"

"No. She needs to do this alone" Taylor said as Ryan nodded and both looked back at Sharpay and Troy.

*******************************************

"I'm sorry Pay. I didn't mean to do this. I didn't intend to sleep with Gabriella. I was drunk and didn't know what I was doing. I'm sorry Pay. Please forgive me. I didn't have a choice. Take me back, Pay. I love you" Troy ranted as he whispers in her ear.

Sharpay looked at him, grabbed his hands and dropped the ring back onto his palms. She slowly stood up as she wipes away her tears and said "You had no choice? We always have a choice Troy. You're the one who taught me that, remember? You said that there's this moment. There's always a moment where it would cross your mind and will make you stop and think 'I can do this', 'I can give in to this' or 'I can resist it' and I don't know when your moment was, but I bet your ass that there was one" Sharpay said and walked away leaving a stunned Troy and the gang behind.

After a couple of steps, Sharpay looked back and said "And for the record, the only choice that I see you made through all of this is that you chose to break my heart"

*******************************************

Months after the Spring Dance, Troy, Sharpay and the rest of the gang seemed to have finally moved on from what happened and everything was back to normal. Taylor, Kelsi, Martha and even Ryan – after the tireless hours of explanation from Chad and blessing from Sharpay – had finally forgiven Troy and were talking to him again. Well, except for Troy and Sharpay. I mean sure, they hang around with each other and the rest of the gang but they wouldn't look, let alone talk to each other.

With one week to go before graduation, all the seniors have for the entire week are graduation practices, emptying their lockers and yearbook signing. Everyone was sad except for the gang because basically although they were going to be in different colleges, they will all be in the same state – New York. Sharpay decided to still go to NYU even though Troy's going as she kept on telling herself that Jason's going to be there plus the fact that it is her dream school.

Let's recap shall we - Kelsi and Ryan will be going to Juilliard and will be taking the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program while Zeke and Martha will be attending the Culinary Institute of America where Zeke will be taking Baking and Pastry Arts (he's still hoping to make the perfect crème brulee) and Martha will be taking Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Arts major in Italian Cuisine. Chad and Taylor, on the other hand, will be attending Columbia University where Chad will be taking Economics and Taylor will be taking American Studies minor in Journalism. Meanwhile Troy, Jason and Sharpay will be attending NYU where Troy and Jason will be taking Sports Medicine and Sharpay will be taking Fashion and Interior Design.

All of them were supposed to leave for New York two weeks after graduation and since they know they will all going to be busy with moving, adjusting to their new environment and school, the gang decided and agreed to start weekly Friday night dinners. In this way, they wouldn't lose touch with each other and they wouldn't be breathing down and hovering on each others' neck. Since only Ryan, Sharpay and Troy will have their own place (which was in the same apartment building since Jack Bolton and Vance Evans owns it) in New York and the rest will be living in their campus' dorms, the three graciously offered their respective places and will be taking turns in hosting the weekly affair.

"One more condition for this whole Friday Night thing that we're going to be having…" Taylor said, looking at Troy.

Troy swallowed loudly in fear of what Taylor will say next while the rest of the gang nodded, urging her to continue. "No Gabriella Montez, please" Taylor continued, smiling.

Troy snickered while the rest of gang including Sharpay looked at him - and this was the first time that she did – waiting for his answer.

"Definitely no Gabriella Montez" Troy assured them as the rest of the broke out in laughter.

"Good. So when will we have our first Friday night dinner?" Kelsi asked as Taylor, Martha and Sharpay joined in on the conversation. The boys, on the other hand, started talking about the new cars Jason, Troy, Ryan and Sharpay got as their graduation present – for Jason, the 2009 Toyota Rav4, for Ryan, a 2009 Porsche Cayman, for Troy, the 2009 Audi Q5 and for Sharpay, it was the 2009 BMW Z-4 Roadster in pink of course (What's with boys and cars?)

Troy continued eating his Sloppy Joe and joined in on the conversation smiling because he could see out of the corner of his eyes that Sharpay smiling after hearing Troy's assurance.

*******************************************

_Day before graduation…_

It was the day before graduation and the gang were the only ones left in the entire school cleaning their lockers. It was Chad's idea to hold it off until the last day since it will be more dramatic and emotional for all of them – boy, they sure are regretting it now.

"I can't believe were still here on the last freaking day of school. Thanks Chad" Kelsi yelled sarcastically from her locker which was ten doors away from Chad.

Chad stopped packing his stuff and looked at Kelsi "Well if you stop talking, we can get out of here more quickly"

"Ohh" the rest of the gang echoed and then burst out in laughter but was suddenly interrupted by Gabriella's loud shrieking

"Thank you Troy" Gabriella screamed as the gang took a step back and saw Troy placing a necklace on Gabriella's neck. They then took a look back at Sharpay, who was still staring at the 'happy' couple with a single tear rolling down her cheek.

Taylor, whose locker was next to Sharpay, saw this and gently nudged her. Sharpay wiped away the tear, looked at Taylor and nodded.

*******************************************

_Five minutes earlier…_

Gabriella spotted the gang including Troy cleaning their lockers and seemed to be having a good time. She hated the fact that after all that she has done that Troy wasn't completely hers. She wasted money, efforts and time trying to copy Sharpay but Troy still wouldn't look at her like she looks at Sharpay. She also hated the fact that after what happened that the gang have forgiven and accepted him back in their circle. The only consolation prize she has is that Sharpay refused to talk to Troy and has seemed to have given up on them.

When Gabriella found out that the gang all planned to go to New York for college and that Troy and Sharpay will both be in NYU, she immediately applied to NYU and for the same course Sharpay will be taking. She also wanted to stay in the same apartment complex that Troy will be staying in but couldn't afford it so she had to settle for an apartment two blocks away from theirs – seriously talk about copycat.

Snapping back to reality and thinking quick, Gabriella went up to Troy, who conveniently has the farthest locker, and tapped his shoulder.

"Hey Troy" Gabriella said flirtingly.

"Hey" Troy said dryly. He wasn't exactly happy to see Gabriella.

"Can you put this on me?" Gabriella asked as she pulls out a necklace from her purse.

"Sure" Troy answered

"Thank you Troy" Gabriella screamed as she turns around, lifting her hair up so that it won't get tangled up with the necklace. Turning around, she saw that the gang were looking at them and thought "_Perfect"._

*******************************************

_After the Graduation Ceremony…_

"I'm going to miss you guys" Sharpay said as she hugs Taylor, Martha and Kelsi, crying.

Ryan rolled her eyes and exclaimed "What are you girls crying about? We're all going to be in the same state for the next four years."

Zeke, Chad and Jason laughed and said "Girls!"

The girls ignored them and just continued "So call us as soon as you get to the airport, okay?"

"Okay. I'm going to miss you. Text or call me…" Sharpay said but was interrupted when they heard Vance Evans and Jack Bolton from behind.

"Congratulations Princess" Jack said as he hugged Sharpay.

"Thanks Jack" Sharpay answered, hugging Jack back.

"Hey, I just want you know that even though you and Troy didn't work out. You will still be my little princess" Jack assured her

Sharpay smiled not knowing what to say and just hugged Jack again.

"You guys ready to go?" Vance asked Ryan.

"Yup when the girls stop crying" Ryan sarcastically said eyeing the girls.

"Shut up Ryan" Sharpay said stepping out of Jack's embrace and playfully punching Ryan's arm.

"Group hug!" Zeke exclaimed

The gang huddled together and put their arms around each other.

"What…" Chad started to shout when he was cut off by Taylor

"Wait, where's Troy?" Taylor asked. The gang looked around the graduation area and saw Troy with Gabriella – more like struggling to get away from Gabriella.

The gang hesitated to call him, fearing the Gabriella might join. Fortunately for them, Jack noticed them and screamed "Troy! Troy!"

Troy heard someone called him and noticed his father motioning him to come. He felt some sort of relief and turned to Gabriella "My dad's calling me"

Gabriella frowned and reluctantly let go of Troy's arm "Okay. Call me later"

Troy rolled his eyes, jogged quickly to where the gang is and joined the huddle.

"Okay, now that everyone's here. What team?" Chad yelled

"Wildcats!"

"What team?"

"Wildcats"

"Wildcats"

"Get your head in the game" the gang yelled as the rest of the student body cheered from behind them while Gabriella scowled and walked away with her wannabes behind her.

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**A/N: Sharpay's line about choices was from the movie 'Closer' starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen (good movie, you should watch it).**

**So this is just a filler chapter. I know it's not that good as the previous chapters but please, please let me know what you think whether you like it or not and click the little REVIEW button below. It will really help me in writing the next chapter. **

**Please, please with a cherry on top xoxo Anne**


	11. I'm Lost

**A/N: Thank you so much for those who reviewed the last chapter and put my story on alert and favorite list! Thank you! Thank you! So here goes the next chapter… I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**I do not own HSM.**

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**Chapter 10 – I'm Lost**

It has been 6 months after our favorite Wildcats have graduated from East High and have moved to New York. Troy, Ryan and Sharpay have moved to the apartment complex on the 54th Street and since they own the complex, they each got their own floor. Troy took the top floor (7th floor) while Ryan took the 6th and Sharpay took the 5th floor.

They were already in the middle of the semester and things were really hectic for everybody. Good thing, they still have Friday Night dinners to relax them and stop them from going insane. Unfortunately, Troy and Sharpay still hasn't spoke to each other but instead will just steal glances when they think that nobody was looking.

"_Damn, my Friday schedule" _she thought as she opens her refrigerator looking for something to eat. She only had one morning class every Friday and that's from 8:00am to 10:00am so Sharpay always wound up being agitated until dinner time. This week was no exception especially since it was Troy's turn in hosting the dinner and so Sharpay made sure that she took extra time in preparing. She closed the refrigerator and goes to her walk-in closet, looking for something to wear.

"_This is going to be one long day" _she thought.

After half an hour in front of her walk-in closet, Sharpay chose a white lacy Andrew Gn tube dress which accentuates her tan and golden locks and white Manalo Blahnik strappy sandals. She laid her clothes out on her bed and looked at the watch beside her bed. '_3:30PM.' _It reads. She still has 4 hours before the dinner as she sighed and grabbed her phone. She pressed 1 on her speed dial and listened as the phone ring. It took 3 rings before the person on the other end of the line answered.

"Hello?" The person groggily answered.

"Ry?"

"Hey Pay, what's up?"

"Are you decent? Can I come over?"

"Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just needed to talk. That's all"

"Okay. Well you know where my floor is"

"See you" Sharpay said, quickly putting the phone down. She ran towards the door, grabbing her keys from the countertop and went over to Ryan's.

*******************************************

_At Ryan's…_

Sharpay knocked, just so that Ryan knows she's already and then use the spare key Ryan gave her. She twisted the door knob slowly and peeked at Ryan's living room.

"Ry?" Sharpay said as she entered the apartment

"In the game room" Ryan's voice flooded the entire floor as Sharpay closed the door behind her and went straight to the game room. She saw Ryan playing golf on his Nintendo Wii and decided to just lie down on the couch.

"So what's wrong with you today?" Ryan said, not bothering to look at Sharpay

Sharpay remained silent for a couple of minutes. Ryan, on the other hand, felt her uneasiness, hit the pause button and turned to look at her. She was staring down at her lap as he cleared his throat to grab her attention. She looked up with a single tear rolling down her cheeks and said "I'm still in love with Troy"

Ryan sighed and sat down beside her, placing his arm around her. He tucked her head underneath his chin as Sharpay's tears started to fall.

"Shh…" Ryan soothed.

She cried for about five minutes and when her sobs stopped, Ryan looked directly into her eyes and asked "You're still in love with Troy?"

Sharpay nodded as Ryan smiled and cupped her cheeks "Well, guess what? Troy is still very much in love with you"

"I know" Sharpay said, looking away.

Ryan creased his eyebrows in confusion, "Ookay… so what's stopping you from going back to him? Are you still mad because of what hap…"

"I know. I know. You don't have to remind me and the answer is no" Sharpay cut him off, not really wanting to remember that moment again. She stood up and walked to the pinball machine at the corner of the room.

Ryan rolled his eyes, laid back on the couch and asked again "So again my question is what's stopping you from going back to him?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just really not sure. I mean I don't want to get hurt again" Sharpay said leaning against the machine

"But aren't you hurting right now simply because you're not with him?"

"Yes"

"So again…" Ryan trailed off.

"I'm just not sure, okay?" Sharpay snapped.

"What's keeping you from going back to him?"

"I don't know I guess I'm just scared I mean he was… or is my first everything. I'm just scared that if I go back to him that…"

"He might hurt you again?" Ryan interrupted her and then waited for her response. She nodded as Ryan continued "Look, I'm not saying that you're not going to hurt or cry again if you go back to Troy but seeing you for the past 6 months, I know that it hurts you even more not being with him"

She sighed loudly as Ryan's words hit her point blank. She hated when Ryan was right and in this case, he was. "I'm just really not sure about anything right now. I guess I need to find myself first"

Ryan stood up and went over to Sharpay. He massaged her shoulders to ease up her tension. "Well have you thought about telling Troy any of this?"

"Come on Ry, you very well know that Troy and I don't talk" Sharpay said stepping out of Ryan's grasp and took a seat on the couch.

"Yeah, but the looks that you've been giving each other during dinners for, I don't the last 6 months, might as well speak for themselves" Ryan explained.

It was Sharpay's turn to throw Ryan a confused look. Ryan shrugged and continued "Look, apparently reasoning with you isn't doing you good right now but just tell him how you feel and you can both work on your relationship together"

"Okay. Okay. I'll tell him" Sharpay said as she stood up from the couch and heads outs the door.

"Tonight. Tell him tonight, Pay" Ryan reminded

Sharpay stepped back into the room, eyes wide in shock and said "Why tonight?"

"Because if you don't tell him tonight, you'll wake me up tomorrow at god knows what time in the morning before 9am, ranting about your feelings for him" Ryan sarcastically explained.

Sharpay narrowed her eyes and then laughed "I hate that you know me so well"

"Where are you going?" Ryan called after her

"Walk" Sharpay yelled back as she closed the door of Ryan's apartment

*******************************************

_One hour before dinner…_

Troy was running around his place, making every inch of his place as clean and organized as possible. He did this mostly because Sharpay was going to be there – I mean why else would he do it?

He was getting lost in his thoughts thinking about Sharpay when he heard the doorbell rang. He looked at his as he walked towards the door.

"_6:00PM. They're here early" _Troy thought as he opened his apartment door.

"Hey Troy" said a perky, uninvited Gabriella enter his apartment as she wraps her arms around his neck.

Fortunately for Troy, he has quick reflex to quickly unwrap Gabriella's arms off him and pushes her off him. "What are you doing here?" Troy snapped

Gabriella rolled her eyes and walked straight into the apartment "You invited me remember?"

"Why the hell would I invite you here?" Troy irritatingly asked

"Because you like me" Gabriella said point blank

"What are you on crack? I don't like you. Why do you keep pushing yourself to me?"

Gabriella shrugged Troy's comment, wraps her arms around his neck again and whispers to his ear "Sooner or later, you'll come around and you'll be mine"

Troy was about to yell at Gabriella when they heard the elevator door opened. He pushed Gabriella off once again – harder this time and ran towards the elevator to check who it was.

Stepping onto the hallway, Troy saw the elevator doors closed but didn't see the person inside the elevator. He looked up and prayed to all the powers that it wasn't who he feared it was. After a couple of minutes, he went back inside his apartment and found Gabriella watching TV on his flat screen. He approached her, roughly grabbed her by the arms and yanked her out of his couch. He dragged her across the room and threw her out of his apartment, "Out."

He was about to close the door when Gabriella stopped it with her foot "Don't make me tell your dad, Troy" she threatened

"Go ahead and see if I care" Troy said closing the door.

For the first time months after his breakup with Sharpay, a genuine smile appeared on his face and his chest felt lighter than before.

"_Now it's time to fight for Sharpay"_ he thought as he continued cleaning his apartment.

*******************************************

_Minutes earlier inside the elevator…_

After her talk with Ryan two hours ago, Sharpay finally decided to tell Troy exactly how she feels. She wanted to make a good impression on him and so she decided to wear Troy's old basketball jersey, her favorite William Rast skinny jeans, knee-high Christian Louboutin boots and to make sure that Troy will get the idea, Sharpay wore the locket he gave her.

She got into the elevator, pressed '7' (Troy's floor) and hope that everything will go well. It only took her a minute or so until she reached Troy's floor when the doors opened, she stepped out and saw that Troy's apartment door was open.

She heard voice and thought _"Maybe the gang is here early"_

Well so much for her surprise but nonetheless she was happy that the gang was there to witness this momentous event. She casually walked towards the door and took a peeked inside. Her eyes doubled in size as shocked and heartbreak took over her as she saw something straight out from her nightmare – again.

She saw Gabriella and Troy by the door. Gabriella has her arm wrapped around Troy's neck and their heads were closed to each as if they were about to kiss. She felt her heart broke into million pieces again as she slowly backed away from the door and ran towards the elevator. She hurriedly pressed the 'down' button and thank heavens that the elevator door opened quickly. She tried to hide on side of the elevator near the door with tears streaming down her face.

She got off on her floor, ran inside her apartment, quickly taking off the locket and placing it on her dresser. Unlike before she wasn't going to wallow in her sorrows by crying her eyes out and pigging out on ice cream, this time she was going for a walk to try and clear her mind. She took off the Troy's jersey and grabbed one of her newly designed statement t-shirts that says "I'm Lost" at the back. She wiped away her tears, did her make-up again, reached for her phone and hit speed dial 2.

After 3 rings, Taylor answered. "Hey Payday, what's up? We're on our way"

"That's good. Uhmm… Tay, I think I'm going to skip dinner tonight." Sharpay said

"Huh? But why?" Taylor asked

"I just have to get out. I need to think" Sharpay answered

"Well, can't you do that after the dinner? Come one Pay, it's been one week since I last saw you and I have loads of things to tell you. Please come to dinner tonight?" Taylor pleaded

"I know but I can't do this tonight Tay. Please understand"

"Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened" Sharpay lied

"Okay. So why aren't you going?" Taylor asked once again.

"I just need sometime alone, okay? Look I have to go and send the gang my apologies. Also, tell Ry that I'll call him later to explain everything" and with that Sharpay hang up.

She tossed her keys and phone inside her new Louis Vuitton Speedy Bag and went out of her apartment. She reached the elevator door and pressed the 'down' button. She looked at her watch while waiting for the elevator. It was 10 minutes to 7PM and the gang will be there any minute. Thus instead of getting on the elevator, Sharpay decided to take the stairs. Yeah, she lives on the 5th floor and she's wearing three-inch heels but she didn't mind. She needed the time to think and maybe walking down 5 flights of stairs will help her a lot.

*******************************************

_Three hours later…_

After three hours of walking around New York (a subway and cab ride here and there), Sharpay found herself in the Chelsea District. It was her favorite place as there were a number of art galleries that represents a wide array of contemporary artwork, traditional art, fine art photography, paintings, prints, sculpture and various visual arts. It gave her piece of mind and brings back her sanity when she was surrounded with all of this art.

She was staring at a painting of what looked like an old woman who seemed to be distraught by the events of her life. She unconsciously touched her face and then laughed at her silly action. She tilted her head to the side, creased her eyebrows as if she is criticizing the painting.

"Excuse miss, are you lost?" She heard a voice from behind her.

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**A/N: Okay… so that was a cliffhanger and you probably don't like me right now for doing that to you but I have to. **

**I hate Gabriella in this chapter but thank god Troy came into his senses and threw her out. **

**The painting mentioned in this story was a painting by Kyle Hamilton displayed at A.K. Badner Gallery located at 250 W 26****th**** St. It will be on display until the 28****th**** of this month. Also, the t-shirt idea that Sharpay changed into came from the movie of the same title.**

**Still, people, show me some love by telling whether you like this chapter or not and click the REVIEW button below. Please! Please! Please! With a cherry on top please! Tell me what you think xoxo Anne**


	12. GrownUps

**A/N: So here goes the next chapter. This is dedicated neila cross, 2binthafuture, troypay4eternity and gossip girl fan101. Hope you girls enjoy this chapter.**

**I do not own HSM**

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**Chapter 11 – Grown-ups**

"Excuse miss, are you lost?" She heard a voice from behind her.

Startled, she jumped a little bit backward causing her to step on the stranger's toes and him jumping backward, grabbing his toes in the process to numb the pain.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Sharpay said

"Yeah, I am" the stranger said as he stood up straight, smiling

"Good and for the record you shouldn't be sneaking up on people like that" Sharpay sighed a relief and informed the 6"2 brown-eyed, slightly-shaven squared jaw with a slightly messed up hair boy that was standing in front of her.

The stranger laughed and said "Point taken. So what do you think about this painting?"

Sharpay turned to look at the painting again and tilted her head, trying to think of words to describe the painting. "Well, weird, creepy and out of this world would be the first things that would come to mind but analyzing the painting I could say that the artist is either on heroine or is really depressed when he did this"

"What makes you think the artist is a guy?" the stranger asked, creasing his eyebrow

"You see how detailed he painted her? It seemed that stroke he did reminds him of what happened to them like he's reliving it while doing this. He tried his best to capture her in this painting without letting the whole world know that it's her" Sharpay explained

The stranger smiled and looked at the painting "That's what I'm actually aiming for when I painted this"

Sharpay's eyes doubled in size, both out of embarrassment and shocked "You're…the…artist?" Sharpay mumbled.

"Yup. Depressed-on heroine-artist Edward. Edward Hale" he said, giving offering his hands.

Sharpay reached out for it and shook his hand, smiling "Sharpay Evans"

"Okay Ms. Evans. I would like to hear more of your input so do you want to grab some coffee? My treat."

She looked at her watch; it was 9:45PM. She turned her phone off after she talking to Taylor and knowing the gang, they probably left her a gazillion and one messages by now and honestly, she wasn't in the mood to answer any of their questions right now. Edward noticed her silence and said "Well, of course if you don't want to go with a depressed artist like me…"

"I would love to have some coffee" Sharpay answered

"Shall we?"

Sharpay nodded as they started to walk out of the gallery.

*******************************************

Sharpay and Edward walked for a couple of blocks until they reached Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf – Sharpay's favorite coffee shop. She ordered her favorite Vanilla-Mocha Latte while Edward ordered double Macchiato with an extra shot of espresso.

They sat on a corner booth of the shop and so far it was Edward who has done all the talking – boy could he talk. He told Sharpay more about the painting and that it was a portrait of his back when he was in high school, who slept with some guy because she got drunk waiting for him to come back. He was mad as hell when he saw her with him the morning after and didn't even wait for her to explain. It happened right before senior year and thus needless to say that the rest of his senior was spent with heartache and crying.

"You cried?" Sharpay gasped jokingly.

Edward laughed nervously and nodded "Yes. Yes. I admit it. I cried. Hey, even guys cry… sometime"

"Right…So what happened afterwards? Did you forgive her?"

"Yes but it took sometime. I was hurt and seeing her with the guy after it happened was like pouring alcohol on an open wound"

"Ouch"

"Ouch was right." Edward agreed as he took a sip of his drink

"But you forgave her?" Sharpay asked eagerly

"Even though what she did hurt me, I realized that living and being in love without her is more painful. So I forgave her but we didn't got back together as quickly as everybody would have thought or liked."

Sharpay creased her eyebrows in confusion and said "What do you mean?"

"Well, I told her that I forgave and still love her but I wasn't really ready to just go back and pick up where we left off. I needed sometime to think and find myself"

"So you gave her the 'it's not you, it's me' break up speech?"`

"No" Edward said as Sharpay just stared at her with a knowing smile and after a few seconds, Edward continued "Okay, yes, I did. But that time off helped us and made us grow up together and separately."

"Okay, now you've lost me"

"After I told her I forgave and all that drama, it took us a year or two before we became girlfriend and boyfriend again."

Sharpay eyes doubled in size "Two years? Good thing she stuck around"

Edward nodded "Yeah that was a good thing"

Sharpay remained quiet for a couple of minutes, sipping her latte. Edward looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 11PM. "You want me to walk you home?"

Sharpay nodded as they walked out of the coffee shop. They grabbed a cab as Sharpay gave the driver the directions to his place and it was a good thing that Edward only live around the neighborhood. After 15 minutes, they found themselves sitting at the bottom of staircase outside the apartment complex

"What did you do during those two years?" She asked

"I grew up… We grew up" Edward answered, smiling at the correction he just made.

Sharpay nodded as she stared at the road before them but turned to Edward who gently nudged her and said "Just remember this Sharpay, never think it would be a mistake to choose yourself. To love yourself a little bit more. It takes grown ups to make a relationship work."

Sharpay smiled and said "Thanks. I'm happy I met you"

"Glad I could help"

"Hey what happened to your girl?"

"Oh she's my wife now"

Sharpay was about to say goodbye to Edward when she heard someone calling her name. She looked to the left and to the right but no one was in sight. She then felt Edward tugged on her shirt sleeve and turned to him. He was looking upward. She creased her eyebrows in confusion but decided to look upwards as well. She saw the whole gang (Troy included) peeking outside from the balcony. Some were smiling and some were scowling but there was only one face that stood out – Troy's.

"I take it they're your friends" Edward asked

Sharpay looked at him awkwardly and nodded. "Well, it's too late to hide you now so might as well introduce you. Are you up for it?"

Edward shrugged "Yeah well. I've got nothing to do. Lead the way"

*******************************************

_Ten minutes earlier back at Troy's…_

"Still off" Troy said flipping his phone close. He has been trying to call Sharpay for the last 4 hours ever since Taylor told him that she wouldn't be able to make it for tonight's dinner. Truth be told, he was actually excited for tonight's dinner for tonight was the night that he was going to make everything right between him and Sharpay. The night that he was going to tell and explain everything that ever happened. The night that he was going to win Sharpay back.

He already told the gang everything that he was going to tell Sharpay – okay, well maybe not everything but he did told them the part about Gabriella taking advantage of him while he was drunk out of his mind and the part about Gabriella blackmailing his dad and his dad forcing him to date her.

"Well, she did say she needed some time to think so maybe she's still doing that" Taylor reasoned as she placed the dirty dishes inside the dishwasher.

"But it's almost 11PM. Who goes for a walk at 11PM?" Ryan asked sarcastically

"And knowing Sharpay, she wouldn't be thinking for I don't know 4 hours straight" Kelsi said

"Maybe she went shopping" Jason interjected

Zeke nodded and exclaimed "And we all know that she can go shopping for more than three hours straight"

"Maybe she got into an accident" Martha said alarmingly

"We should call the hospital…" Kelsi immediately said

"No, we should call the police first and then the hospitals" Jason said, grabbing the phone from the countertop.

"Or maybe she just went to grab some coffee" Chad shouted from the balcony, obviously looking at someone down the street.

The gang hurried to the balcony and peeked down the street. They saw Sharpay with some guy, laughing and drinking coffee, sitting on the steps of the apartment complex. Troy peeked and felt her heart shattered into a million pieces; he felt jealousy and anger filling up inside him.

"Who is that?" Kelsi asked

"Is he someone from NYU?" Ryan mumbled

"No, I haven't seen him before and believe me I've seen every guy that approached her" Jason answered.

"So who the hell is that?" Zeke asked, annoyingly

"Well, let's go ask boys and girls." Chad said and then shouted "Sharpay! Sharpay!"

The guy looked up and saw the gang staring at them from the topmost floor. He tugged Sharpay's sleeves, who looked up, then said something to the guy and then went inside the building the guy following her from behind.

The gang regrouped on the dining room in silence, watching Troy's reaction. They all got seated around the table while Troy kept himself busy by getting everyone drinks – watermelon juice for the girls and energy drink for the boys.

Jason, Chad, Zeke and Ryan looked at each other and then at the girls when Troy handed them the drink. The girls just shrugged, not really knowing what to say. Chad, who was sitting in between Ryan and Taylor, whispered "What are we supposed to do exercise at 12 midnight?"

Ryan rolled her eyes while Taylor smacked the back of Chad's head. He screamed in pain but fortunately for him, the sound was muffled by the doorbell. Troy dropped the dishes that he was washing to answer the door but was cut off by Jason and Zeke, who stood up quickly and beat him to the door.

Jason breathed deeply, silently praying that everything will go well and opened the door. He greeted Sharpay and her companion with a smile "Hey Payday"

"Hey Jason" Sharpay greeted back, stepping inside Troy's apartment, then she saw the gang behind him and continued "Hey guys"

"Hey Pay…" Taylor said, eyeing the guy behind her and continued "…and friend"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Guys this is Edward Hale. Edward Hale these are my friends. Jason, Taylor, Chad, Ryan, he's my twin…"

"I can see that" Edward sarcastically interrupted, making Sharpay snicker.

She rolled her eyes and then continued introducing the gang "Zeke, Martha, Kelsi and Troy"

"Nice to meet you" Edward offered his hand as the gang shook it one by one, with the gang asking a question here and there.

When Edward reached Troy, he offered his hand to Troy but he didn't take it and rudely said "Not so nice to meet you"

"Troy!" Sharpay yelled out of embarrassment.

"Wow Pay, that's the first time you said my name in almost a year and it's just to introduce your new boyfriend here" Troy said, glaring at Edward once again,

"Troy!" Sharpay repeated

"Don't worry. I won't be in your way. Have fun!" and with that Troy left, slamming the door on his way out.

Tears were welling up in Sharpay's eyes as she continued to stare that the place where Troy stood, not really knowing what to say. Thoughts were running wildly in her mind right and she couldn't figure out what to. It was interrupted, however, when Ryan ended the awkward silence that was hanging in the room.

"So are you her boyfriend?" Ryan asked Edward.

"Oh no, no, no, no. I'm just a friend." Edward answered

"How did you guys meet?" Zeke inquired

"We met at the art gallery in Chelsea District this afternoon. She critic my painting and we got to talking" Edward said

"You have plans of asking her out?" Jason added

"If I were single, probably but no, I don't have any plans" Edward explained

"What do you mean if you were single? Do you have a girlfriend?" Chad continued

"I'm married plus Sharpay really loves your friend over there and I wouldn't want to be in the way. Well speaking of the wife, will you look at the time…" Edward said without even looking at his watch "…I should probably head home right now. It was nice meeting all of you…" Edward turned to Sharpay "…hey, remember what I said okay?"

Sharpay weakly nodded and said "I'm sorry you have to see that"

"It's okay. Now go get him" Edward said, motioning for Sharpay to go after Troy.

* * *

**A/N: ****I hope you'll like it even though there's not much troypay moments here but I promise that in the next chapter there will be and trust me they will be awesome moments.**

**Okay, so I introduced a new character in this chapter… Edward Hale. Sounds familiar? Yeah, I got him from Twilight. But don't you guys worry; he'll just appear in this chapter. Edward's line about 'it takes grown ups to make a relationship work' was from the movie of the same title.**

**I only got like 4 reviews for the last chapter, which saddened me a lot. So please, please, a thousand times please, let me know what you guys think of this chapter and click the REVIEW button below xoxo Anne**


	13. One More Chance

**A/N: So this is probably my second quickest update for this story and as promised this purely a Troypay chapter. This chapter is dedicated to my loyal readers and reviewers: troypay4eternity, XxMeRockSxX, LoveItsOnItsWay, ZashleyrulesWildcat4life, hansongirl14 and neila cross. Thank you so much and hope you'll like this chapter**

**I do not own HSM**

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**Chapter 12 – One More Chance**

"It's okay. Now go get him" Edward said, motioning for Sharpay to go after Troy.

Sharpay smiled before rushing out of the apartment to look for Troy. The gang smiled at the sight of Sharpay running after Troy – well, it's about time. Too many tears have been shed and too many hearts have been shattered over the last year - all thanks to a Gabriella Montez but now thanks to this certain Edward Hale, everything will go back to the way everything was supposed to be.

Sharpay quickly ran towards the roof top exit, knowing exactly where Troy would be. Truth be told, she was nervous as hell. She rehearsed this moment a hundred of times in her mind and sometimes in front of the mirror but that did not prepare her for this moment. She opened the door and was about to step in when Ryan came out from the apartment and grabbed her arm.

"Shar!" Ryan said, catching his breath and grabbing something out of his pocket

"Ry, I have to go and see him. I have to explain to him that Edward…" Shar explained but was suddenly cut off by Ryan

"I know and it will help if you would wear this" Ryan said as he shows her the locket.

Sharpay smiled at the sight of her locket and quickly grabs it, hugs Ryan and said "Thanks big 'bro"

"Anytime, Pay. Anytime. Now go." Ryan said, shoving Sharpay towards the stairs and watched as the door closed.

*******************************************

_With Troy…_

Troy burst into his rooftop garden mad as he could possibly feel. He couldn't believe her. How could she bring her new boyfriend to their weekly Friday night dinners? Didn't she remember that they have a rule against that?

He sat down on one of the lounge chairs, and played his iPod, putting it on maximum volume. He closed his eyes as a few tear rolled down his cheeks and started singing along.

_It's never enough to say I'm sorry  
It's never enough to say I care  
But I'm caught between what you're wanting from me  
And knowing if I give that to you  
I might just disappear_

_Nobody wins when everyone's losing_

_It's like one step forward and two steps back  
No matter what I do you're always mad  
And I, can't change your mind  
It's like trying to  
turn around on a one way street  
I can't give you what you want  
And it's killing me  
And I, I'm starting to see  
Maybe we're not meant to be_

Troy was getting ready to sing the second verse when the music suddenly stopped. He opened his eyes and saw Sharpay, smiling weakly at him.

"I hope you're not giving up on me just yet" Sharpay said

Troy quickly wiped away his tears, hoping that Sharpay didn't see them, stood up from the chair and walked towards the other side of the rooftop garden

"Why are you here?"

"We need to talk Troy"

"If it's about you and that guy, I would rather not"

"He has a name you know?"

"I know but I'd rather call him 'that guy'"

"Okay." Sharpay said and then there was that awkward silence between them. This was actually the first time that the two have been alone intentionally. For the past 6 months or so, the gang has been trying, subtlety of course, to get the two talk to each other by trying to leave them in a room together but to no avail.

Sharpay, not really knowing what to say, took a look around the garden. She really loved what Troy had done with the place. It was similar to his secret garden back in East High (remember the Science garden). There was an arc at the center of garden, there were five to six two-person sitting areas scattered all around, there was a swing on the side which was overlooking Central Park and white and red roses were all over the place. But there was one flower in the garden that stood out the most – pink roses, her favorite flower. Sharpay smiled but was quickly reminded of the current predicament she and Troy are in right now.

The uncomfortable silence between Troy and Sharpay went on for about 5 more minutes before Sharpay broke it, walking towards where Troy was and said "I liked what you've done with this rooftop"

Troy felt her right beside him. It hurt him to be so close to her and yet he can't touch her. He closed his eyes, fighting the tears so that they won't fall, turned around and walked away.

Sharpay closed her eyes and held on to the locket. She closed her eyes and called out "Troy, wait!" She turned around, only to see Troy stood motionless by the door.

"Troy, I…" Sharpay continued but cut off by Troy.

He turned around to face her "What Sharpay? What do you want to talk about? Do you want to talk about him? So you can rub it more in my face? No thanks, Pay. I think I got the message that you've moved on and that there's no hope for you and me ever again. I mean I apologized a hundred of times ever since it happened. I know it was my fault. I know I've messed up and I've been trying so hard to fix everything between us.

"But Gabriella, he told my dad about what happened and you know my father, he'll do anything to protect the family name. Gabriella used this and blackmailed me into doing everything and anything that she wants including those public display that you probably saw. If you only knew how much I detested myself every time I have to kiss her, every time I have to hold her, and every time I have to show her any type of affection." Troy ranted.

Sharpay smiled. It was finally good to hear the whole truth coming from Troy. She was felt like a fool for not giving Troy a chance to explain but she knows she can't do anything it right now. She walked towards him and said softly "Troy"

However much to her dismay, Troy didn't even notice and instead he continued ranting.

"But today, I finally had the courage to throw her out. Out of my apartment and out of my life and I don't care if my dad disinherits me because of it…"

"Troy" Sharpay said, taking another step closer to him

"…and it felt good. This was the first time in almost a year that I actually felt good even though you're not by my side…" Troy continued

"Troy" Sharpay rolled her eyes and took one more step; she was only a couple of feet away from him.

"…and today I was supposed to win you back. I mean I would do anything to win you back. But then you brought…" Troy was cut off when Sharpay unexpectedly pressed her lips against his.

Troy's eyes doubled in size and it took him a couple of seconds before he kissed her back and closed his eyes. Her arms slowly found its way around his neck while his arms automatically found its way around her waist. They let all the love, passion and lust that they have been keeping for the past 11 months out in that one special kiss. So special that Sharpay didn't even notice tears escaping her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.

When the need for air became necessary, they pulled away hesitantly but kept their foreheads pressed together.

"You don't how bad I wanted to do that for the past year" Troy whispered, tightening his grip around Sharpay's waist and kissed away the single tear rolling down her cheek.

"And you don't know how bad I wanted you to shut up so I can do that" Sharpay smiled and whispered back

*******************************************

_Inside the apartment complex…_

The gang was cramped up by the rooftop exit door, trying their best to listen in to Troy and Sharpay's conversation and not to make any noise.

"I can't hear anything" Kelsi whispered, her ear pressed against the rooftop exit door.

"They stopped talking?" Ryan asked

"Oh my! Maybe Sharpay tossed Troy off the roof" Zeke exclaimed

"I highly doubt that! It could be the other way around." Taylor defended

"Jason, can you see anything?" Martha said

"I can't see anything either" Jason said as he continues to peep thru the key hole

"This is useless. Why can't we just knock?" Zeke asked

"No, we'd like to give them privacy." Ryan answered

"Yeah and 'this' gives them just that" Taylor said sarcastically

"Can you guys be quiet or they're going to hear us" Kelsi hissed

"Sorry" Ryan, Zeke, Jason, Taylor and Martha whispered back at the same time

They were quiet for sometime, trying to listen in when Chad hissed "Okay, who's touching my butt?"

"Sorry" Zeke said, removing his hand from Chad's butt

"Eww…" Kelsi, Martha, Taylor, Ryan and Jason exclaimed unconsciously

"That's just plain gross Zeke" Martha said

"Will you please be quiet or else…" Ryan said but was cut off when they heard a knock on the door.

The gang looked at each other, wondering if they'll answer or not.

"Nobody's home" Chad said, disguising his voice making it sound bigger.

Kelsi, Taylor and Martha slapped Chad's head all at the same time, making him scream a little louder than usual. They tried to get a more comfortable position in the cramped space when they heard laughter from the other side of the door

"We know that you're there" Sharpay said from the other side of the door.

"Zeke?" Troy said

"Here" Zeke answered

"Martha?" Sharpay continued

"Here" Martha muttered

"Jason?" Troy followed

"Present" Jason answered, unconsciously raising his hand. Kelsi rolled her eyes and put Jason's hands down

"Kelsi?" Sharpay asked

"Yes ma'am" Kelsi muttered

"Chad?" Troy said

"Present" Chad answered

"Taylor?" Sharpay continued

"Here" Taylor said

"Ryan?" Troy and Sharpay asked at the same time

Ryan sighed and said "Here"

"Are you guys done listening?" Troy asked

"Yes" The boys answered

"Can we just tell you all about it later?" Sharpay followed

"Yes" The girls answered

"Bye" Troy and Sharpay said

"Bye" The gang muttered as they one by one made their way downstairs back to Troy's apartment.

*******************************************

_Back with Troy and Sharpay…_

After they "talked" to the gang from the other side of the door, Troy and Sharpay sat on the swing set. It was already 1AM but the city was still alive.

Sharpay sat down on Troy's lap, her back resting on his chest as they watch the city lights dance in front of them and 'So Close' by Jon McLaughlin playing on the background. It still amazes him how perfectly she fits into him – it's as if she's made for him.

"Pay?" Troy whispered in her ear

"Yeah?" Sharpay said softly

"Not to ruin the moment or anything but what are 'we' now?"

"What do you want Troy?"

"I want you back, Sharpay. I need you back in my life."

"It's not that easy. You chose to break my heart the first time and I can't risk it again…" Troy sighed and placed his head on her shoulders as she continued "…but I'm not saying that there's not going to be an 'us' because, honestly, there's no one I'd rather spend my whole life but you" Sharpay said, showing Troy the locket he first gave her.

Troy smiled and kissed her shoulders. Sharpay took this as a good sign and continued "What I'm saying is that I want us to grow up separately but together"

"Okay, now you've confused me"

"Let's just say 'that guy' told me that it takes grown ups to make a relationship work and believe me I want 'us' to work"

Troy kissed her cheeks and asked "So we're not yet boyfriend-girlfriend?"

"Not yet"

"Friends?"

"Nope. Best friends" Sharpay said as she put emphasis on the word 'best'.

"Well best friend, can I have this dance?" Troy asked as he reached for his iPod and turned it off.

Sharpay shot Troy a confused look but agreed just the same. They stood up as she snaked her arms around his neck while his arms automatically went around her waist. They started swaying even though there was no music until Troy started singing in Sharpay's ear. She closed her eyes and tightened her grip around his neck – never wanting to let him go.

_You say it's over  
I say we've just begun  
'Coz it ain't forever  
Until our lives are done  
I know I did some things  
That I never should  
I'd undo them if I could  
I'd turn my life around for you  
Anything you'd ask me to...  
Just tell me..._

_What must I do to make you want to stay  
And take the hurt away  
And leave it all to yesterday?  
What can I say to make you change your mind?  
To have the chance to turn the hands of time  
Back to the days when you were mine?  
Just give me one more chance for one last time._

_I won't deny it  
I know that I've done wrong  
But you have to admit it  
This love is just too strong  
To just fade away into the night  
Without putting up a fight  
We can make it all alright  
If we just give it on more try...  
So..._

_What must I do to make you want to stay  
And take the hurt away  
And leave it all to yesterday?  
What can I say to make you change your mind?  
To have the chance to turn the hands of time  
Back to the days when you were mine?  
Just give me one more chance for one last time..._

_And what can I say to make you change your mind  
To have the chance to turn the hands of time  
Back to the days when you were mine?  
Just give me one more chance for one last time.  
Just one more kiss to last a lifetime  
One more chance for one last time._

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**A/N: Songs used in this chapter: 'Never meant to be' by Theory of a Deadman from the 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' movie soundtrack (good movie) and 'One More Chance' by Piolo Pascual.**

**The scene where Troy referred to Edward as 'that guy' is from Wizards of Waverly Place (I just love that scene).**

**Okay I just felt so inspired writing this whole chapter – don't ask why. :)**** Anyway, let me know what you guys think of this chapter and click the REVIEW button below xoxo Anne**

**P.S. I'm quite sad with the review turn-out I got for the previous chapter. I only got 6 but I understand – there wasn't much Troypay but in this chapter where it's purely Troypay, well almost, I'm expecting more. :)**


	14. Unnecessary Attention

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews I got for the last chapter. So here goes the next chapter and I hope that you enjoy this. I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed the trailer for my new fic 'Got to Believe' (if you haven't read, please do). I'm going to start the first chapter after posting this one.**

**I do not own HSM**

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**Chapter 13 – Unnecessary Attention**

_2 hours later, around 3am…_

In a building across the street, a guy with a Canon EOS Rebel XS 18-55IS camera in hand was having one hell of good day and it was all thanks to the couple sleeping on the building rooftop. He snapped picture after picture, capturing every movement. After 10 minutes, he took out his phone and quickly dialed a number. It took 4 rings before the person on the other end of the line answered.

"Somebody better be dying for you to wake me up at this ungodly hour" the person cursed

"Wake up Joan. I just found a gold mine" the guy said, gaining the attention of the other person.

"Okay, you've got my attention Eric. Now who's screwing who?" Joan Fox, editor-in-chief of New York Nightlife, a tabloid magazine that follows the life of New York elites. Thus being the heir and heiress of the successful businessmen in the country, Troy Bolton and Sharpay Evans are considered New York elites.

"Sharpay Evans, heiress to Evans' Incorporated, looking cozy and sleeping on Troy Bolton's lap, heir to Bolt Corporation on a rooftop garden of an apartment complex along 54th street" Eric reported.

"Troy Bolton? I thought he's with that social climber… uhm… what's her name…the bleached blond?"

"Gabriella Montez"

"Yeah, that's the one"

"Well, he either broke up with her or he's cheating on her"

"Maybe but right now I couldn't care less. This is front-page material. Call Jacob and publish this today" Joan instructed and the hung up.

"Sure thing boss" Eric said as he quickly snapped one more picture of the sleeping couple. _"Thank you Troypay! Hmm… that sounded quite nice." _he thought and hurriedly dialed another number.

*******************************************

_Another 4 hours later, around 7am…_

Sharpay stirred in her sleep as her back ached from the sleeping position that was imposed on her. She tried to get comfortable by stretching her muscles when she realized that there was a pair of strong hands restraining her and quickly remembers everything that happened the night before. She was happy with everything that has happened yesterday – well, almost everything – from meeting Edward at the gallery to the 'talk' she and Troy had.

She turned to look at Troy and smiled. She really did love him and was so glad that he still hasn't move on. She was admiring his features when Troy moved and slowly opened his eyes.

"Good Morning Princess" Troy greeted her, kissing her cheek. They were taking things slow and since they were not yet a couple, Troy decided to kiss her cheek instead of her lips – although, he was very tempted to.

"Good Morning Troy" Sharpay answered.

"How was your sleep?" Troy asked

"Better than I could ever imagine. How about you?" Sharpay asked back.

"A little sore but it was all good since I have you in my arms again" Troy said

Sharpay shook her head and muttered "That was so cheesy"

"What can I say?" Troy shrugged

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm starving here so the word 'breakfast' would be nice right now" Sharpay said as she stood up and dragged Troy up with her. He rolled his eyes but followed her inside the apartment complex; their hands entangled with each other's.

They reached Troy's apartment in less two minutes. They knew that the gang stayed over, wanting to know what happened between them the night before. Troy took the lead and slowly opened the door to his apartment. He peeked inside and saw that the gang was nowhere in sight. He turned back to Sharpay and whispered "The coast is clear"

Sharpay nodded as they quietly entered the apartment and made their way into the kitchen. "Okay, I'll make us food. You still eat peanut butter and jelly, right?" Sharpay asked as Troy nodded.

"Good. Cause that's the only thing I can make" Sharpay continued.

"I know" Troy admitted

She was about to prepare her food when she noticed that Troy wasn't letting go of her hand. "Uhmm, Troy?"

"Yeah?" Troy said innocently

"You can let go of my hand now" Sharpay said

Troy looked down at their intertwined hands and then back to Sharpay, letting go of her hands "Sorry"

"It's okay. Now go wake the gang up. For sure, they have a lot of questions for us and I want to do a little shopping before the day is done" Sharpay said, shoving Troy out of the kitchen and into the living room.

When he got to the living room, he saw them sprawled out all over the place. Kelsi, Martha and Taylor were slept on the couch while the boys (including Ryan, who by the way lives one floor down) slept on the floor. Troy tried his best not to make any noise so as not wake the gang up as he made towards the bathroom. Unfortunately, Ryan woke up and soon the rest of the gang started waking up one by one.

"Troy?" Kelsi said, stretching the sleepiness off her

"Hey guys" Troy said tentatively, nervous that the questions were about to pour in.

"What happened to both of you last night?" Ryan asked

Troy was about to answer when Sharpay entered with a big pile of peanut butter and jelly sandwich and announced "Breakfast"

Sharpay placed the tray down on the coffee table in the middle of the living room, grabbed two sandwiches and then went back to Troy. She handed him a sandwich, which he gladly took and watched as the gang devour the whole tray. Once the gang each got a sandwich, they stared at Troy and Sharpay and waited for them to start telling them what happened.

"So…" Taylor began but was immediately cut off by Chad.

"Please tell me that you're back together because I can't take another 'guy' night with Troy ranting how much he loves you" Chad blurted out

Out of shock and embarrassment, Troy's eyes doubled in size and hit Chad squarely in the face with his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Chad groaned, stared at Troy, wiped his face and then stared at Troy again. Out of nowhere, Chad licked his fingers and said "Hmm… Crunchy"

The gang (including Troy and Sharpay) gave him an incredulous look and started laughing their heads off.

"You're so gross Chad" Taylor muttered

"I know but you still love me" Chad said confidently, leaning in to kiss Taylor

"Yup and I don't know why" Taylor answered as she wipes some peanut butter and jelly on his face and eats it.

After a couple more minutes of laughing, the gang got settled as Troy and Sharpay sat on an empty chair, looking really cozy together. Troy's right arm was wrapped around her waist as his hands were entwined with Sharpay's left hand.

"So you guys are back together?" Zeke asked

Troy and Sharpay looked at each other and then back to the gang. "Not yet." Troy said

"But why?" Martha asked sadly

"Well, we decided that we want to grow up first before jumping back into being boyfriend-girlfriend" Sharpay explained as the gang exchange confused looks

"So what are you then?" Ryan said as he points to their 'supposedly concealed' intertwined hands.

"We are 'best of friends'" Troy announced

The gang shot them confused looks. "Best friends?" Jason said

"Are you sure that's going to work?" Kelsi asked

"Yeah" Sharpay simply answered

"I mean we were best friends first before we became boyfriend and girlfriend, remember?" Troy added.

"Well I guess that makes sense" Taylor admitted

"Again, I'm perfectly okay with whatever you are just as long as Troy is not calling me at the middle of the night to tell me how much he misses you" Chad said, still wiping the peanut butter and jelly off his face.

Troy rolled his eyes and looked at Sharpay, who just smiled at him and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

After an hour of talking about nothing and eating, Ryan's phone rang.

"Hello?" Ryan answered

"Ry? Is your sister with you?" Darby asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Yeah. What's up?" Ryan said, eyeing Sharpay

"Are you with your friends?"

"Yeah. Mom, what's wrong?" Ryan asked again. This time Sharpay heard this and looked directly at Ryan, her eyes filled with concern

"Turn on the TV" Darby instructed

"Okay. Just a moment" Ryan said. He pressed the phone on his shoulder and asked the gang "Where's the remote?"

"Here" Zeke said as he hands it to Ryan.

"What channel?" Ryan asked his mom again

"Channel 35" Darby said

Ryan followed and changed the channel to 35.

"_New York elite Troy Bolton, son of Jack Bolton, president of Bolt Corporation is a two-timer? Sources have spotted Troy Bolton this morning sleeping on a rooftop garden with Sharpay Evans, daughter of Vance Evans, president and CEO of Evans Incorporated on his lap." The girl reporter said as a photo of Sharpay and Troy sleeping on the rooftop garden is shown on the screen._

"_But wait doesn't Troy Bolton have a girlfriend? Another blonde? Bleached blonde? What's her name?" The male anchor said_

"_Don't know and don't care. What I am more interested is the hook up between these two New York elites. They look so perfect together but how long have they been going out and why keep on the low profile?"_

"_Well according to my research, these two have been going out since high school, back when they were still in Albuquerque but then Troy cheated on her and then the rest as they say is history"_

"_Tsk. Tsk. Looks like Troy Bolton is becoming New York's new playboy. What does Jack Bolton have to say about his son's image?"_

"_We'll find out more about that in our upcoming episodes. Up next, Khloe Kardashian incredible wait lost. How she lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks?"_

"_All that and more when Clevver News Returns"_

Ryan turned the TV off as the gang looked at Sharpay and Troy, their eyes wide shock. Sharpay turned to Troy and said "Your Dad?"

As soon as Sharpay said this, Troy's phone rang. He got it out of his pocket and saw that it was his Dad. He looked at Sharpay and squeezed her hand lightly, reassuring her that everything will be okay.

"Dad?" Troy answered

"Have you seen the news?" Jack asked

"Yes and dad, I don't care what you say but I'm not going back to Gabriella. You can disown me if you want but there is no way in hell that I'll go back to her. This time I'm sticking with Sharpay" Troy declared.

"Good for you, son" Jack said

"What?" Troy asked, confused

"Good for you." Jack repeated

"But what about the press and the family name?" Troy said, looking at Sharpay

"Vance and I will deal with that but you have to deal with that Gabriella girl" Jack answered

"Yes Dad" Troy agreed

"Good. Now I have to go and do some damage control. Say hi to Princess for me" Jack said and then hung up.

"Sure thing Dad. Bye" Troy said, still confused with what happened and then flipped his phone close.

"What did he say?" Sharpay asked nervously

Troy stared at his phone for a couple of seconds, turned to Sharpay and said "He said hi and good for me"

"Okay, that was weird." Sharpay said

"You said it but I wouldn't have it any other way" Troy said, kissing her cheek. At this point, Troy and Sharpay were completely oblivious to the fact that gang was still watching their every move until Ryan cleared his throat.

The gang looked at each other for a couple of seconds before they erupted in laughter.

*******************************************

_10 minutes earlier, a couple of blocks away…_

Gabriella woke up to the sound of her mobile phone ringing. She groggily reached for it on her bedside table and answered "This better be good"

"Gabi, turn on your TV. Channel 35 You've got to see this" Lana, one of her wannabes, said.

"If this is another one of your Rob Pattinson news. I'm so going to kill you" Gabriella threatened as she grabs the remote and turned her TV on.

"_New York elite Troy Bolton, son of Jack Bolton, president of Bolt Corporation is a two-timer? Sources have spotted Troy Bolton this morning sleeping on a rooftop garden with Sharpay Evans, daughter of Vance Evans, president and CEO of Evans Incorporated on his lap." The girl reporter said as a photo of Sharpay and Troy sleeping on the rooftop garden is shown on the screen._

"_But wait doesn't Troy Bolton have a girlfriend? Another blonde? Bleached blonde? What's her name?" The male anchor said_

"Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!" Gabriella screamed at the top of her lungs.

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**A/N: I added new characters in this chapter but they're not really pertinent to the story, so don't mind them. I know it's sad that Gabriella's back but I have to – I'll explain in future chapters. Also I'm not really sure how many chapters are still left but I'm thinking around 3-4 chapters after this.**

**Oh and Clevver News is an actual entertainment show but i don't know what channel. So i don't own it as well**

**So what do you think of this chapter? Please, please let me know and click the REVIEW button below.**

**Xoxo Anne**

**PS: I was so happy with the review turn-out for the previous chapter so I am hoping for the same in this chapter**


	15. Anger Management

**A/N:So here goes the next chapter and I'm sad to say that Gabriella is back in this one as well. Anyway thank you for the following who reviewed the last chapter: troypay4eternity, ZashleyTroypaylove14, neila cross, LoveItsOnItsWay, hansongirl14, Duhitskatieox, gossipgirlfan101 and *troypay lover*. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter**

**I do not own HSM**

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Anger Management**

_Three hours after…_

After the news report and the 'weird' phone call from Troy's dad, the gang decided to go out and celebrate Troy's freedom from the bleached blonde aka Gabriella. Zeke, Jason went with Ryan to his apartment to get a couple of hours of sleep and to shower while the girls went back to Sharpay's apartment. After being hit in the face with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich courtesy of Troy, they decided to go for a run around Central Park. They didn't get any far, however, because the minute they stepped out the apartment complex, Troy was swarmed by paparazzi and thus they end up running on Troy's treadmill (one at a time, of course).

At around 10:30, the gang reconvened at Sharpay's place. The guys were all ready and quietly seated in the living room watching some basketball game while the girls scrambled to get ready in the bathroom.

"Pay, do you the new waterproof mascara from Mac?" Kelsi shouted from the bathroom

"Yeah, it's in the pink and black bag, third layer" Sharpay answered as the boys silently looked at each other.

"Hey dude, how many make-up bags does your sister have?" Chad asked seriously

"You don't want to know" Ryan said

"That many huh?" Jason asked

"Yup" Ryan answered

"Hey I don't have that many" Sharpay exclaimed as the girls entered the living room and sits beside their respective boyfriends. Of course, Sharpay took a seat next to Troy as he automatically snakes his arm around her waist. "I just have three make-up bags" she continued

The gang looked at he with raised eyebrows, daring her to continue "Okay, four make-up bags" Silence "Fine, five make-up bags. Gah!!!" Sharpay said, crossing her arms in front of her and leaned back into Troy's chest as the gang erupted in laughter. They were interrupted however when Sharpay's mobile phone rang. She fished it out of her purse and saw that it was her dad. She looked at Troy before answering. He nodded and squeezes her hand which is oddly entwined with his.

"Dad?" Sharpay answered

"Hey Princess, how are you?" Vance asked

"I'm doing good. I'm here at the apartment with Ryan and my friends"

"Good. Now I heard from Jack that you and Troy are back together?"

"Well, we're not yet together-together but we're friends"

"Okay. Can I speak with Troy?"

"Yeah. Sure thing Dad. One moment" Sharpay said as she passed the phone to Troy and mouthed "My dad wants to talk to you"

Nervously, Troy grabbed the phone from Sharpay "Hello Mr. Evans"

"Troy, my son. Take care of my daughter and don't let her cry again" Vance warned Troy

Troy gulped loudly and said "Yes Sir" He was now really terrified of Vance

"Good. Now Jack and I will release a statement to the press by this afternoon and so it's up to you to deal with that Gabriella girl"

"Yes Sir"

"Good. Can you pass the phone to Sharpay?"

"Yes Sir"

"And Troy?"

"Sir?"

"Call me Dad"

Troy eyed Sharpay with a raised eyebrow and said "Sure thing… Dad". He passed the phone to Sharpay and looked at the gang, who were looking at him especially Ryan with wide eyes. Troy shrugged and looked back at Sharpay

"Dad?"

"I love you Princess. Take care okay?"

"Yes Dad and I love you too"

"Bye"

"Bye Dad" Sharpay said as she ended the call and then looked at Troy. She was about to ask him a question but Zeke beat her to it

"Did you just call Mr. Evans dad?"

"I guess… I don't know… Yes…He told me to call him Dad" Troy answered tentatively

The gang remained silent until Chad's stomach growled. The gang laughed and headed out for breakfast. Since Troy was earlier attacked by paparazzi, Sharpay, Ryan and him decided to sneak out the back of the complex and told the gang that they would them instead at the diner near Broadway.

Their day went by unusually normal - well, if you don't count the paparrazi - and much to Troy's relief, there was definitely no sign of Gabriella. They had brunch at the diner and then the girls went to the mall to do some shopping while the boys went to the batting cages.

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At around 2pm, the gang went back to Sharpay's apartment and watched the E! News where the statements of both Vance and Jack will be released.

_"Breaking News: Troy Bolton and Sharpay Evans are together and unlike what was reported earlier this morning Troy Bolton is apparently not a cheater. Jack Bolton and Vance Evans both released a statement earlier this afternoon to clear up their children's image" Ben Lyons of E! News said_

_"Right you are Ben. The statement released by Jack Bolton says and I quote 'My son is not a cheater. He and Sharpay have been together since they were in high school. Gabriella Montez is a seriously disturbed girl who is obsessed with my son and tried to do everything to have him including blackmail. She even tried to copy Sharpay." Giuliana Rancic recited_

_"Speaking of which, Vance Evans also mentioned that his team is working on filing a restraining order for this Gabriella Montez and that she stays at least two hundred feet away from both Troy and Sharpay" Ben added_

_"Well, you know what love can do to you. I just hope that this latest New York elite couple will survive all of this drama" Giuliana said_

Troy turned the TV off and the gang started discussing what just happened. The gang left just before 4pm with all of them coming up with some lame excuse why they couldn't stay longer and soon Troy and Sharpay were the only ones left in the apartment. Though they didn't mind since that's actually what they wanted. Thus, they spent the entire day cuddling on her sofa bed, watching one movie after another until sleep claimed them for the night.

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_Two months after…_

It has been two months since they were reunited (as best friends) and since the media found out about them. The statement that their parents released eased up some tension on Troy but now it seemed that they were slowly becoming the newest love team of New York. And if you're wondering, they haven't said the L word to each other. Well Troy wanted to but since they're taking tings 'slow', decided to hold back. As for Sharpay, she also wanted to say it to Troy but was afraid to put her heart on the line again that fast.

Troypay. That's what the media calls them.

Although they didn't really like all the attention given to them, they have gotten used to the paparazzi following them whenever they go out. The gang also got used to being followed and questioned by paparazzi about Troy and Sharpay.

As for Gabriella, much to her dismay, she became the new 'joke' of New York. Everywhere she goes everybody kept referring to her as the disturbed and obsessed bleached blonde who runs after Troy.

Friday night dinners still continued and now it became more of sanctuary for all of them. But unlike before when dinners usually would last until the wee hours of the morning, Friday night dinners only lasts until 11pm and this usually leaves Troy and Sharpay alone doing whatever they want to do - usually watching DVDs, playing Nintendo Wii, or singing karaoke.

This Friday night was no exception. The gang left rather early tonight - it was only 8:30pm - and they seemed to have a good excuse as well. Thus, leaving Troy and Sharpay again and as usual, they just watched movie after movie until sleep took over them.

They were awaken at around 3am, however, when they heard someone screaming and banging on Sharpay's door.

"Troy! Troy!" It was Gabriella.

Sharpay panicked and looked at Troy, who instantly reached for his mobile phone in his jeans pockets, handed it to Sharpay and said "Call 911"

Sharpay nodded, quickly dialing the number.

"I know you're in there. Get out of here! How dare you do this to me? You're a two-timing ass!" Gabriella screamed at the top of her lungs

Troy cautiously approached the door and looked into the peephole. He saw a drunk, raccoon-eyed Gabriella, holding a baseball bat. He quickly turned back and grabbed one of Sharpay's brass plated fireplace tool set. Panic and concerned were written all across Sharpay's face when she saw Troy do this.

"Gabriella, we're not even going out so how can I be two-timing you?" Troy retaliated

_"Hello, 911. What's your emergency?"_ The voice at the other end of the line answered.

"Get out of here you son of a gun! How dare you do this to me?" Gabriella yelled

"Hello. We're being attacked and she has a weapon or something" Sharpay said

"I know she's in there too. Come out Troy and I promised I won't even hurt her" Gabriella added.

_"Okay calm down. Is there somebody with you?"_ The 911 operator asked

"Yes. I'm not alone. My boyfriend's here" Sharpay said. Troy heard this and smiled. He was happy that Sharpay referred to him as boyfriend but this was definitely not the time to think about that as he heard Gabriella pounding on the door again.

_"That's good. Ma'am can I get your name and your address?"_ The 911 operator said

"Sharpay Evans and Troy Bolton. 5th floor Snave Apartment Complex. It's along 54th St" Sharpay hurriedly answered

"Get out of here. We already called the police." Troy threatened but then jumped back when Gabriella hit the door with the bat, creating a big dent on the door.

_"Okay ma'am. The police are on their way. I'm going to stay on the line until they get there, okay?"_ the operator informed her

"Okay and please hurry." Sharpay agreed as tears stained her face. Troy turned off the lights, ran towards her, envelops her in a hug and tried his best to calm her down.

"I know that this is not the best time to say this but I love you and I promise I'm not going to let anything happen to you" Troy whispered into her ear and kissed her temple.

"I love you too Troy" Sharpay answered as she held on tightly to his shirt.

"Get out of here Troy Bolton" Gabriella screamed

*******************************************

_With Gabriella…_

Seeing the dent on the door, Gabriella attacked it over and over again until the hole was large to enough to peer into.

"Troy?" Gabriella said in a singsong manner. No answer.

"Turning off the lights. Nice touch. But it won't do you any good" Gabriella continued.

"Go away Gabriella" Troy threatened

"Or you'll what?" Gabriella taunted

"The police are on their way" Troy said

Gabriella was really tired of this verbal banter, reached into the hole and turned the door knob to let herself in. She saw Sharpay and Troy huddled in one corner, hugging each other.

The fact that they looked together didn't help as it aggravated Gabriella even more. She hoisted the bat above her head, getting ready to hit someone with all her might when Troy instantly grabbed the bat, struggling to get it out of her grasp. Sharpay saw this quickly lunged at Gabriella making her fall onto the floor with a loud thud, making her unconscious. Troy grabbed the bat and then Sharpay as they made their way out of the apartment.

They took the stairs and run as fast as they could and on the way down, they saw several policemen going up. "Are you Sharpay Evans and Troy Bolton?" the policeman asked

"Yes." Troy said

"Okay. Go to the police car downstairs. Your parents and the paramedics will be here shortly." The policeman instructed

Troy and Sharpay nodded as they continued their way down.

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**A/N: What do you think? Is it good? Is it bad? Please let me know and click the REVIEW button below. I'll be looking forward on hearing or in case reading your opinions and comments regarding this chapter xoxo Anne**

**P.S. I do not own E! News, Giuliana Rancic and Ben Lyons.**


	16. Reconciliation and Retribution

**A/N: THIS IS THE REAL CHAPTER 15! I'm very sorry for my mistake earlier. Anyway, I hope you still take the time to READ and REVIEW this chapter.**

**Sorry if it took so long for me to update this story but I got pre-occupied with something else. Anyway, here goes the next chapter and unfortunately, Gabriella is back but nonetheless I hope like this chapter.**

**Anyway, I would like to thank the following for consistently giving me 'freakingly' (I know it's not a word but I just love saying it) awesome reviews: zashleyroxzanessasox, troypay4eternity, ZashleyTroypaylove14, Duhitskatieox, mzsinger2inthafuture, gossip girl fan101, LoveItsOnItsWay and neila cross. This chapter is dedicated to you guys. Hope you like it.**

**I do not own HSM**

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**Chapter 15 – Reconciliation and Retribution**

_Two weeks after…_

After Troy and Sharpay managed to elude Gabriella's attack the night before, Vance had more than enough evidence to have Gabriella convicted for attempted murder and since she was already above 18 years, she will tried as an adult. Her trail was set tomorrow and so right now, Gabriella is out on bail. Sharpay, Ryan and Troy, on the other hand, were forced by their parents to move out of their apartment complex just in case Gabriella tries anything again.

While their parents were busy looking (in their case) buying an apartment for their kids, Sharpay stayed with Taylor while Troy stayed with Jason and Ryan stayed with Chad. In addition to all this trouble, they have to move their weekly Friday dinners to the small diner near Broadway.

"So have you guys found an apartment yet?" Chad asked and took a bite of his blueberry cheesecake

"No, not yet" Sharpay answered as she played with her and Troy's intertwined hands. Even though they said the 'L' word to each other two weeks ago, they're still not together-together, unfortunately. But their actions speak otherwise and so the gang let them be.

"Why? Are you kicking me out?" Ryan gasped

"No, no. It's just that next week is our 4th year anniversary and I am planning something special for this girl over here" Chad said, pointing to Taylor

"Oohhh…" The gang teased while Taylor smacked the back of Chad's head.

"What was that for?" Chad screamed

Taylor shrugged and just continued eating her strawberry sundae. Meanwhile Kelsi looked at Troy and Sharpay and said "So how are you guys?"

Sharpay looked at her with a creased eyebrow "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Kelsi trailed off, looking at Jason for help.

Jason understood Kelsi's signal and interjected "What we're trying to say is that how are you? I mean are you friends or are you like together…"

"…you know like boyfriend and girlfriend kind of way?" Martha finished off

Troy and Sharpay looked at each other before nervously looked back at the gang "Well…" Troy started

"We're not yet together" Sharpay said

"Okay so why are you holding hands underneath the table...again?" Zeke said point blank.

The gang snickered, trying to repress their amusement while Sharpay and Troy smiled shyly but didn't answer the question.

"Busted!" Chad mocked as the rest of the gang erupted in laughter

"So again what are you guys?" Ryan repeated

Sharpay smiled, looked at Troy, squeezed his hand to get his attention and whispered "What do you want us to be?"

Troy's eyes doubled in size and swallowed loudly. He was nervous as hell. The couple was completely unmindful of the outside world as they got lost in each other's eyes. Jason noticed this, cleared his throat to get the rest of the gang's attention and motioned for them to leave the two love birds. The gang left quietly unbeknownst to the two.

When Troy didn't answer, Sharpay got nervous and repeated the question "Troy, what do you want us to be?"

Troy breathes deeply before answering "You already know what I want. The question now is… are you ready to take me back?"

Sharpay looked down at their hands then looked back up to Troy, caressed his cheek and smiled "Yes, I am"

Troy smiled, leaned in and kissed Sharpay passionately. It took only a couple of seconds before Sharpay responded to the kiss and deepened it. When the need for oxygen became essential, they pulled apart but kept their foreheads pressed together. They looked into each other's eyes and smiled lovingly at each other.

"Is that your final answer?" Troy teased

Sharpay rolled her eyes and placed a soft kiss on his lips to seal the deal "Yes that is my final answer"

"I (kiss) love (kiss) you (kiss)" Troy said as he puts his arm around Sharpay's waist

"I (kiss) love (kiss) you (kiss) too (kiss)" Sharpay answered

Troy reached for something in his jeans pocket. It was the promise ring he gave her 3 years ago "Now can you wear this?"

"With pleasure" Sharpay said as Troy placed the promise ring in her left ring finger.

Little did they know, the whole gang was smiling at the happy couple as they watched them through the diner's window.

*******************************************

_The next day…_

Gabriella was convicted for attempted murder but was only sentenced two years in prison since no one got hurt during the whole incident. Of course, Gabriella was expelled from NYU and was evicted from her apartment. Maria Montez, Gabriella's mom, was so furious and disappointed at her for throwing away her future all because of a boy.

After the judge gave her decision during the court hearing, Maria hugged her daughter and said "I love you Gabi. Be strong"

Gabriella stared blankly at the court room door as if she was waiting for someone to come before turning to her mother "Is Troy coming?"

Maria shook her head as tears started to stream down her face and the police took her daughter outside of the court room.

*******************************************

_Two years after…_

Maria Montez stood outside New York Police Department waiting for her daughter. It has been two years since Gabriella was convicted for attempted murder and today was the day that she's being released.

She was smoothing the invisible crease of her top when the Police Department main door opened and revealed a much-older looking Gabriella. She quickly ran up to her daughter, enveloped her in a hug and said "Hey honey, how are you?"

Gabriella smiled as she hugged her mom back and said "I'm okay and I'm sorry for how things turned out"

"Its okay honey, the important thing is you're alright now, right honey?"

Gabriella smiled politely and nodded "Yes mom, I'm alright now"

"Good. So what do you say we head home now?"

"I'd love that mom. Thanks"

"I love you honey"

"I love you too Mom"

*******************************************

_With Troy, Sharpay and the rest of the gang…_

The past two years have been a blissful for the gang. With Troy and Sharpay back together and with no Gabriella meddling, it was like paradise for all of them. Troy, Sharpay and Ryan moved back in the old apartment complex but of course Mr. Evans and Mr. Bolton added extra security.

Troy and Sharpay's relationship is getting stronger and stronger by the day and so they decided to live together. They moved back in to Troy's old apartment (7th floor) and even bought two dogs, a Maltipoo named Maui and Golden Retriever named Charlie. Ryan moved back into his old floor (6th floor) and is now currently dating Abbie, the prima ballerina of Juilliard. Through Sharpay's irresistible puppy dog eyes and Vance Evans and Jack Bolton's generosity, the rest of the gang also moved in the apartment complex. Kelsi, Martha and Taylor moved in Sharpay's old floor (5th floor) while Jason, Chad and Zeke moved in the 4th floor.

Life couldn't get easier and happier than now for the gang and with senior year coming up surely added to their excitement. But for Troy, life as he knows it will get even better.

"Come on Troy. Can you just pick a ring? My feet hurt really bad right now and I really want to go home" Kelsi exclaimed. She just came back from a 3-hour rehearsal and was really tired but she promised Troy that she'll help him pick a ring for Sharpay. Taylor and Martha already begged off for reasons that they want to be just as surprised as Sharpay when they looked at the ring.

It was exactly two years since Troy and Sharpay got back together and tonight he was planning on proposing to Sharpay. The whole gang except for Sharpay knew since Troy needed their help and they couldn't be any happier that their friend had finally mustered up the courage to do this.

They were at the Harry Winston store in Saks Fifth and Troy was holding up two engagement rings in front of Kelsi's face. "Okay, which one is better? This…" Troy asked as he held out one of the rings, a three-stoned 14 carat emerald-cut diamond ring "…or this?" he asked again, holding out the other ring, a 14 carat round-cut pink diamond ring.

Kelsi creased her eyebrows; trying to pick which one of the two rings she thinks Sharpay will like the best. "Hmmm… well, Sharpay likes pink so I suggest get this one" Kelsi said, pointing the three-stoned ring.

Troy looked at her, confused but soon nodded and turned to the sales lady, handing her the ring "We'll take this one and put it on my father's tab" Being the son of Jack Bolton surely has its perks.

The sales lady nodded and quickly wrapped the ring.

"So are you excited for tonight?" Kelsi asked

"You have no idea" Troy said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Where are you planning to do this?"

"At the diner"

"Nice"

"Yup, I rented the whole place. So it'll just be me, Sharpay and her favorite band"

"You invited The Veronicas to play?"

"Yup" Troy said as the sales lady handed him a small velvet box and they were on their way out of the store.

*******************************************

_At the diner…_

Sharpay was sitting at their usual booth waiting for Troy. The diner was unusually deserted for a Thursday night considering it was strategically located in the middle of three theaters. Everything seemed also weird inside the diner. For one there was a band set-up and Jenny, the diner's waitress who was standing behind the counter cannot stop smiling at her.

She was feeling anxious and uneasy but didn't know why. She looked at her Philip Stein watch and saw that it was already 7:30PM. Something was definitely wrong. Troy asked her to meet him at the diner at 7PM as he had something important to say but being that he's 30 minutes late and he is never late so she knew that something was definitely not right.

"Troy, where are you?" Sharpay whispered as her leg shook uncontrollably

Several minutes later, Sharpay's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, it was an unfamiliar number.

"Hello?" Sharpay answered

"_Hello is this Ms. Sharpay Evans?" _The caller asked

"Yes, who is this?" Sharpay asked back

"_This is Dr. Matthews of Mt. Sinai Medical Center. I'm afraid that your boyfriend Troy Bolton has been in an accident"_ Dr. Matthews informed her.

As soon as she heard the words 'Troy' and 'accident' together in a sentence, Sharpay's heart stopped almost instantly and dropped her phone

Jenny saw her reaction and rushed over to Sharpay's side. She picked up the phone and handed it to Sharpay, who seemed to have snapped back to reality.

"Is he alright?" Sharpay said as the tears started to flood down her face

"_He is currently in surgery right now. We need you to come down here to sign some release forms" _Dr. Matthews said

"I'll be there in 5 minutes" Sharpay said and quickly hung up. As soon as she did, Ryan and Chad came rushing into the diner

"Pay…" Ryan said as he tried to catch his breath

"Troy…" Chad continued

Ryan saw that his sister was already in tears and thus he assumed that she already knew. "Come on we'll drive you to the hospital" Ryan said

"The gang's also on their way there" Chad added

Sharpay nodded and followed them outside to Ryan's car.

*******************************************

_With Troy, 35 minutes earlier..._

"Shit! Shit! I'm late" Troy ranted as he hurriedly crossed the street and was on his way to the diner. He was got too pre-occupied with practicing everything he was going to say to Sharpay in front of the mirror and now he was running late.

He walked a little faster as he was two only blocks away from the diner. He crossed the street when he heard a car revved up. He looked up and saw a black SUV speeding towards him. He didn't have anytime to react as the car hit him and sent him flying 10 feet away.

Troy coughed as he felt all the pain in his body. He looked at the sky, clutching the velvet box inside his jeans' pocket and whispered "I love you Sharpay" and then everything went black

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_Inside the SUV, 5 minutes earlier…_

Gabriella was clutching the steering wheel hard that her knuckles already turned white. Since it was all over the news, she knew that Troy and Sharpay are going strong. She also knew that tonight was planning on proposing to Sharpay (because she was following Troy that afternoon).

After waiting for a couple more minutes, she spotted Troy, who was about to cross the street.

"If I can't have you Troy Bolton, no one can" Gabriella hissed as she revved up her engine and drive straight towards Troy. Not wanting to see Troy's face, she closed her eyes and only opened them when she heard a loud thud on her hood. She stopped the car as she saw Troy lying unconsciously on the pavement. She was about to go down her car but stopped instantly when she saw several people starting to gather around him.

She put the car in reverse and sped away in the opposite direction.

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**A/N: Okay so I know I was supposed to update my other stories (Heaven and Hell and Got to Believe – read it if you haven't) but I was thinking of finishing this story first before continuing the others. After this, I only have 3 chapters including the epilogue left. **

**I added new characters in this chapter but then again they're not that important so don't mind them.**

**So what do you think of this chapter? Is it good? Is it bad? Please, please, a thousand times please let me know what you think and click the REVIEW button below xoxo Anne**


	17. Chase

**A/N: Okay first of all, I'm very sorry for the mistake I did in posting the last chapter and thus, I hope this update will make up for it. **

**I do not own HSM**

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**Chapter 16 - Chase**

As soon as Ryan parked his 2012 Range Rover, Sharpay immediately jumped out of the car and rushed inside Mt. Sinai Medical Center while Chad followed her track. She approached the reception and asked "Troy Bolton? What room is he in?"

"Let me check" the reception said as she quickly typed something on her computer.

Feeling uneasy, Sharpay tapped her perfectly manicured nails on the counter as Chad and Ryan soothe her back, trying to calm her down.

"Here it goes, Troy Bolton. He's currently in surgery. OR 2, 3rd floor, it's on the right wing" the reception informed them

"Thank you" Sharpay quickly said before dashing towards the elevator. It took about 5 minutes before the three reached the 3rd floor and since there were no signs, Sharpay looked left and right and saw Jason, Kelsi and Martha sitting on some uncomfortable white hospital chairs.

Sharpay quickly rushed to them, with tears threatening to spill from her eyes and said in a winded breath "How is Troy? Any news? Has the doctor come out yet? Why isn't no one's talking? Come on, tell me something, is he alright?"

Kelsi and Taylor went to either side of Sharpay, trying their best to calm her down and have her sit in a chair.

"Pay calm down. He's still in surgery. No one has told us anything yet" Kelsi said

"Am I going to lose him? I don't want to lose him. I just got him back." Sharpay whispered in between her sobs.

"Shhh… you're not going to lose him. He's strong. He'll pull through" Taylor said.

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_With Gabriella, ten minutes earlier…_

She was clutching the steering wheel as tears were streaming down her freely like a faucet.

"I killed Troy Bolton. I killed Troy Bolton. I killed Troy Bolton" Gabriella whispered as a smile slowly crept up to her face which eventually developed into a creepy laughter.

She couldn't believe what she just did but she did it. She just tried to kill the love of her life and she doesn't know if he's still alive or if he's already dead but at this moment, she couldn't care less. It's either Troy spend his life with her or be dead and with what she just did, she'd rather have Troy Bolton dead.

She pressed the gas pedal a little harder as the car sped away towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

Seconds later, Gabriella heard police sirens. She looked at her rearview mirror and saw that three police cars were chasing down after her. She didn't see any point in stopping and so she pressed the gas pedal harder as her speed limit reaches at least 100 miles per hour. She swerved to the left and then to the right. She didn't stop at the intersection causing two cars to collide head on with each other creating a roadblock.

She thought she lost the police at the intersection but a couple of seconds later heard more police sirens following her. There must be at least 10 police cars following her that very minute and instead of being scared, Gabriella creepily smiled at her reflection

"_I'm very famous right now. Just like what I wanted" _Gabriella thought

Just then, her mobile phone rings. She took a look at the caller ID and saw that it was her mom.

"Hello?" Gabriella answered

"_Gabriella Montez, what the hell are you doing? Why are the police chasing you?" _Maria frantically asked

"How did you know the police are chasing me?" Gabriella asked, confused

"_You're on TV" _Maria screamed

"I'm on TV" Gabriella said to herself

"_Yes, you're on TV. Now Gabi please stop the car before you get hurt" _Maria pleaded

Not really paying attention to her mother, Gabriella yelled in joy "I'm on TV! Woohoo!"

Taken aback, Maria remained silent for sometime. "_What was wrong with her daughter?"_ She thought.

"I'm on TV! Take that Sharpay Evans" Gabriella exclaimed and that was everything made clear to Maria. Her daughter was so jealous of everything that Sharpay Evans has especially the love of Troy Bolton that it has driven her insane.

"_Gabi please stop the car. Let me help you" _Maria pleaded once again

"I'm sorry Mom" Gabriella said and then hung up. She then rolled her window down and threw her phone out. It landed and made a crack on one of the police cars' windshield.

*******************************************

At first instinct, the police thought that Gabriella fired a gun at them.

"Did she just fire a gun at us?" Police No. 1 (the one who's driving) asked his partner.

"I don't know but we better stop her now before she can hurt anyone else" Police No. 2

"And how do you suggest we do that? I'm not sure if you notice but we're here and she's there driving 100 miles per hour" Police No. 1 said sarcastically

"Haven't you watched Cops? We'll blow her tires out giving her no choice but to stop and then we'll arrest her" Police No. 2 informed

"Nice. Now you do it" Police No. 1 said

Police No. 2 rolled his eyes and then opened his window. He took out his gun, slowly climbed out of the window and sat on the window sill. He grabbed the metal bar of the police siren with his left arm to balance himself and aimed his gun at Gabriella's tires.

*******************************************

_Bang!_

Gabriella heard a gunshot and for a couple of seconds lost control of the car.

"Shit!" Gabriella exclaimed as she took control of the car again and pressed on the gas pedal harder.

She was nearing Brooklyn Bridge and sometime between her mom's phone call and the first gunshot, Gabriella decided to run her car over the Brooklyn Bridge. She figured that there was no reason to live if she can't have Troy by her side and so she decided to join in the afterlife.

"I'm almost there" Gabriella hissed as she saw the Brooklyn Bridge

_Bang!_

Another gunshot and Gabriella totally lost control of her car as it swerved towards the bridge, the car slide towards the railing with an annoying screech. But the railing of that part of the bridge was too weak to absorb the crash and the weight of Gabriella's car that it broke, sending both the metal and Gabriella's car down the East River.

"I'm sorry Troy" Gabriella whispered right before the water crashed her body.

Aside from the water drowning almost immediately, the weight of the water caused her internal organs to bleed which cause Gabriella to die faster.

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_At the Mt. Sinai Medical Center, 30 minutes later…_

It has been over half an hour but not a single doctor or nurse has spoken to them and the gang was getting worried by the second. Sharpay has stopped crying 15 minutes ago and just patiently sat on the waiting area with Taylor, Kelsi and Matha. Chad and Zeke went to the cafeteria to get something to eat while Ryan and Jason went to Starbucks for a coffee run.

"Sharpay!" Jack Bolton said as he ran down the hallway hand-in-hand with his wife, Lucy.

Sharpay stood up and immediately went to Jack and Lucy, hugging them as best as she could as the waterworks started again.

"Any word from the doctor?" Lucy said softly

Sharpay shook her head and then looked at Jack, who smiled weakly at her. Jack was about to say something when a doctor in an operating gown came out of the room.

"Hi I'm Dr. Matthews. Are you all here for Troy Bolton?" he asked

"Yes. Yes. How is he?" Sharpay asked as she took three big steps towards the doctor.

"He's out of danger but…" Dr. Matthews began but was interrupted by Sharpay.

"Is he awake? Can I see him?

"He's still in a coma."

"Coma? But you said that he's out of danger" Jack asked, confused

"Due to the intensity of the crash, his body needs to take sometime to recuperate. I don't how long will it take before he wakes up but I guarantee you that he will" Dr. Matthews answered

That answer seemed to have calm Sharpay down as she asked "Can I see him?"

Dr. Matthews smiled weakly at Sharpay and said "Yes. I'll have him transported to his room" He paused, took a piece of paper out of his pocket and then looked back at Sharpay "He's going to be in room 1421."

Jack nodded and shook the doctor's hand "Thank you Dr. Matthews"

*******************************************

_In room 1421, another 30 minutes later…_

Troy laid on a hospital with an oxygen tube attached to his nose to help him breathe while Sharpay holds on to his hand.

"I swear Troy if you ever wake up again, I'm going to kill you for trying to leave me like that" Sharpay whispered. She laughed quietly at her attempt to scare Troy into waking up.

"Please wake up, Troy. Please baby" Sharpay begged as the water works started again.

Kelsi, Martha, Taylor, Zeke and Chad just watched with sadness as their friend hold on to the love of her life, crying. While Lucy and Jack watched with happiness as they saw just how much Sharpay loved their son.

Minutes later, Ryan and Jason walked in, panting, with two big bags of Starbucks.

"Have you guys seen the news?" Jason said as he handed his bag to Zeke and reached for the remote control on Troy's bedside

"What news?" Chad asked, rifling through the bag for his Iced Café Mocha.

Jason handed the remote control to Ryan. "This news" Ryan said, turning on the TV.

"_Thank you Katie. I am here at the Brooklyn Bridge where the high-speed car chase between the NYPD and Gabriella Montez ended. According to the police and to several witnesses, earlier this evening Gabriella had ran over New York elite Troy Bolton with her SUV. Sources say that Troy Bolton was rushed to Mt. Sinai Medical Center and just got out of surgery._

"_Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for Gabriella as her car went over the bridge and landed in the cold water of the East River. The police and the coast guard are now trying to retrieve her body. Back to you Katie" _the field reporter said

"_Thank you, Eric, who is live from the Brooklyn Bridge. Now for other news…" _Katie Couric trailed off as Ryan turned the TV off.

There was an awkward silence in the room as the gang and the Bolton's didn't know how to react. They didn't know whether to be happy now that Gabriella is finally out of their lives or to be sad at the loss of someone's life.

The clouding uneasiness and tension in the room was broken when the nurse walked in and said "I'm sorry but visiting hours are over and only person can stay here"

But before anybody could say anything, Sharpay said "I'll stay" and then looked back at Troy, squeezing his hand.

The gang and the Bolton's respected Sharpay's wishes and said their goodbyes.

*******************************************

_After 2 days…_

The next two days has proven to be more difficult for Sharpay and for the rest of the gang since Troy hasn't' woke up.

Since Troy's first night at the hospital, Sharpay hasn't left his side. Of course, she goes to the bathroom to pee and change clothes but other than that Sharpay refused to leave Troy's side to do anything else.

As for the gang, they also took turns in watching Troy and Sharpay. In fact, Taylor (ever the organized Taylor) made a schedule. Zeke and Martha took the morning shift, starting from 7AM to 1PM while Kelsi and Jason took the afternoon schedule, which starts from 2PM to 8PM. Taylor and Chad took the evening shift, starting from 9PM to 2AM and Ryan took the early morning schedule starting from 2AM to 8AM.

It was already 8AM; Sharpay hasn't eaten anything for the last two days and was looking paler and paler by the minute. This got Ryan worried; he approached Sharpay and said "Pay, do you want to go eat breakfast?"

Sharpay looked at Ryan, with her eyes half-closed and shook her head.

Ryan rolled his eyes, sighed and said "You need to eat something, anything Pay. Please"

Sharpay shook her head again

"Come on, Pay. I'm sure Troy doesn't want to see you like this. Please eat something" Ryan reasoned with her.

Sharpay shook her head weakly and then suddenly collapses in Ryan's arm.

* * *

**A/N: Okay so there goes the next chapter. As I've mentioned in my previous chapter, I am thinking of finishing this story first before continuing my other fics, Heaven and Hell and Got To Believe (so do not fret, I am still going to finish those stories). **

**Anyway, I do hope that you enjoy this chapter and of course, don't forget to let me know what you think and click the REVIEW button below xoxo Anne**

**P.S. I do not own Katie Couric or Mt. Sinai Medical Center or the Brooklyn Bridge **


	18. Good, Better and Best

**A/N: Okay, okay, I know that I just posted the previous chapter yesterday but I can't help it... you guys made me so happy with all the reviews you've given and the fact that I reached over 100 reviews. Yay me!!!**

**This is the last chapter (sad) but I am writing an epilogue, so better watch out for it. **

**I would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all my readers especially to the following: neila cross, troypay4eternity, LoveItsOnItsWay, gossipgirlfan101, Duhitskatieox, ZashleyTroypaylove14, mzsinger2binthafuture, AgentPurplePanda, Xedra27, zashleyroxzanessasox, *troypaylover*, bellex, kimmyxlovetizz, hansongirl14, XxMeRockSxX, ZashleyrulesWildcat4life, shane, forevertrueblue, Writer Rider Dirty Thirties and xozashleyyeverr. You guys have truly inspired me throughout this story. **

**I do not own **

* * *

**Chapter 17 – Good, Better and Best**

"Pay! Pay! Somebody help me! Pay! Wake up!" Ryan yelled as Sharpay collapsed in his arms.

Seconds later, two nurses hurriedly entered the room and helped Ryan.

"I'll go get Dr. Matthews" said Nurse No. 1

Nurse No. 2 nodded, turned back to Ryan and asked "What happened?"

"I don't know, she just fainted" Ryan explained

Nurse No. 2 puts her pointer and middle finger on Sharpay's wrist, trying to feel her pulse. "Her pulse is weak. Has she eaten anything within the last 24 hours?"

Ryan shook his head and then looked back at Sharpay.

"We have to get her to the emergency room" Nurse No. 2 informed Ryan. At the same moment, Dr. Matthews and Nurse No.1 along with two male nurses entered the room with a hospital bed.

"Stats?" Dr. Matthews asked Nurse No. 2

"Breathing and pulse are weak and as per her brother, she hasn't eaten anything for two days" Nurse No. 2 informed

"Okay, let's get her to the emergency room" Dr. Matthews as he motioned the two male nurses to help him. The two went on either side of Sharpay while Dr. Matthews continued "On the count of three… one… two… three"

The three men hoisted Sharpay on the hospital bed while Nurse No. 1 puts a portable oxygen mask on Sharpay and starts pumping oxygen as they wheeled her out of the room.

Nurse No. 2 turned to Ryan and said "Don't worry, we'll take care of your sister"

Ryan looked at her blankly and nodded. Once the nurse was out of the room, he grabbed his mobile phone and quickly called his parents, the Bolton's and the gang.

*******************************************

_Three hours later…_

After 5 different test and injecting 3 bottles of electrolytes on Sharpay's system, her family, the Bolton's and the gang were allowed to see her although she was still sleeping. The gang was by Sharpay's side while the adults were talking to Dr. Matthews

"How is she?" Vance asked Dr. Matthews

"She is doing just fine. She fainted due to dehydration and hunger but we already injected her some IV, supplements and electrolytes to keep her from fainting again." Dr. Matthews assured the adults

"Good." Jack said

"Although we discovered one thing and I'm not sure if she knew about it as well" Dr. Mathews said

Darby squeezed her husband's hand in fear and asked "What is it Doc? What's wrong with my daughter?"

"Sharpay's pregnant. Two weeks pregnant" Dr. Matthews stated.

The gang heard this as all of them looked at the adults with eyes wide open and then back at Sharpay.

"Pregnant? My sister's pregnant?" Ryan stuttered

"Yup but don't worry the baby wasn't harmed or anything" Dr. Matthews stated as the whole room fell silent since all of them didn't know how to react.

"Well, I better get going now. Nurse Adele (Nurse No. 1) is currently fixing the room arrangement that you requested. Call me if you need anything else" Dr. Matthews said as he left the room.

10 minutes after Dr. Matthews, the room was still silent as everyone kept staring at Sharpay with the same thoughts running through their heads _"Sharpay's pregnant with Troy's kid?" _they thought.

The awkward silence, however, was disrupted by the growling stomachs of Chad, Zeke and Jason. The guys looked innocently at each other, and then at their girlfriend's before they reason or say anything, all of them (including the adults) broke out in laughter.

Once the laughter died down, Taylor stood up and said "Well, we better go and feed them"

Kelsi and Martha nodded as the three dragged their respective boyfriends out of the room. Ryan looked back at his sleeping sister and then said "Wait up!" as he hurriedly went after the gang leaving the four adults to watch Sharpay.

*******************************************

_Another three hours later…_

It was already 2PM on a Sunday and it was Chad and Taylor's turn to watch Troy and Sharpay. It was also a good thing that room arrangements that Vance and Jack requested pulled through as both Sharpay and Troy shared the same room, making it easier for all of them to watch their friends (being rich surely has its perks).

Chad was watching a replay of the LA Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns game while Taylor was reading 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' – she wanted to read it before watching the movie – when they heard Troy groaned.

"Troy!" Taylor exclaimed when she saw Troy, struggling to open his eyes. She tossed her book on the floor as it landed with a soft thud.

Troy groaned once more and said, barely above whisper "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, buddy" Chad answered

"My head hurts" Troy cried out.

Out of fear, Taylor looked at Chad and said "Go get the doctor"

Chad ran out of the room as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Taylor tried to keep Troy awake as long as she can and started asking him some questions "Troy, are you okay?"

Troy looked at her blankly for a few seconds before nodding his head slowly and then asked "Where's Pay? I have to apologize to her and explain to her why I'm late."

"Shh… it's okay, Sharpay's here" Taylor said, moving out of the way so that Troy can get a clear view of her.

Troy's eyes doubled when he saw Sharpay lying beside him, unconscious. He tried to get out of his bed but was proven pointless when the tubes attached to him, restrained him on the bed.

Taylor sensed her friend's attempt and calmly said "Don't worry. She's fine. She just needs some rest"

"What happened to her?" Troy asked.

Taylor was about to answer when Dr. Matthews and Chad came in the room.

"Ah good you're finally awake. I'm Dr. Matthews, your physician. Okay, I know you have a lot of questions but before we get to that let me check your vitals first" Dr. Matthews said as he immediately performed a routine check up.

He flashed a small flashlight into Troy's eyes to check if his pupils were reacting normally to the light. He then grabbed his stethoscope, pressing it against Troy's back and listened to Troy's breathing. Lastly, he puts his pointer and middle finger of Troy's wrists, looked at his watch to check if his pulse rate is normal.

After 5 more minutes, Dr. Matthews announced "You're all good and seemed back to normal. No broken bones or anything. If you want, I think I can release you by tomorrow afternoon"

Troy nodded. He was happy that he can go home tomorrow but was extremely worried about Sharpay's condition. "What happened to Sharpay?" Troy asked again.

"She fainted due to dehydration" Dr. Matthews said

Troy nodded as he stared at Sharpay, longingly. Without taking his sight of Sharpay, he asked "Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah, she's probably going to wake up in a couple of hours and they're going to be just fine" Dr. Matthews

The sudden change in the use of the pronoun got Troy confused and inquired "What do you mean 'they're'?"

Chad cleared his throat and hastily thanked Dr. Matthews "Thank you Doc. I think we'll take it from here. Thank you so much for your help"

Dr. Matthews got the idea and went out of the room without any complaint.

Troy looked at Taylor and asked again "What does he mean they're?"

Taylor looked at Chad, giving him an 'are-we-telling-him?' look. Chad shrugged and then looked back at Troy.

"Whatever it is you're not telling me I suggest that you start telling it now" Troy threatened as he took the oxygen tube out of his nose.

Taylor took a deep breathe and said "Sharpay's two weeks pregnant"

Troy dropped the tubes with eyes wide open and slowly said "Pregnant?" His head slowly turned to the unconscious Sharpay and then down to her belly, where a part of him and her is growing.

He was about look back at Sharpay's face when something caught his eyes. He smiled when he realized that it was the promise ring he had given Sharpay 5 years ago. She never took it off unless she has to and the one time she took it off was when they broke up 3 years ago and a couple of days ago, he was so ready to propose to her. This thought made him remember the engagement he bought for her.

He looked back at Taylor and Chad "Where's my pants from the other night?"

Taylor stood up and went over to the closet, got Troy's pants and handed it to Troy "Here"

He grabbed the pants, reached inside one of the jean's pocket and retrieves a small velvet box. He then stood up, walked towards Sharpay's bedside, grabbed her hand and whispered "Hey baby, I'm awake now. It's your turn"

Troy laughed at his attempt to make a joke. Meanwhile, Chad nudged Taylor, who seemed seconds away from crying at the sight of their friends and motioned for them to get out of the room.

*******************************************

_After 2 hours…_

After Taylor and Chad left Troy and Sharpay, they called everybody to tell them that Troy's already awake.

Jack, Lucy, Vance and Darby immediately went down to the hospital and – let's just say – hugged Troy to death.

The girls stopped by Troy's place and grabbed some clothes for both Troy and Sharpay while the guys stopped by McDonald's and bought Troy 3 Big Mac, 2 large fries and 1 large Coke.

The girls got to the hospital first and looked at the boys in disgust when they saw them with a big bag of McDonald's.

"What?" Jason asked

"Seriously? Troy just woke up and the first thing you thought of bringing him is McDonald's" Kelsi said

"That's exactly our point. Troy slept for the past three days and I'm pretty sure that he's hungry" Chad reasoned

Taylor looked at Martha and Kelsi and said "Well, it's hard to argue with that kind of logic"

Martha and Kelsi rolled their eyes. "Fine. So what did you guys bring us?" Kelsi asked.

The adults as well as the boys (except for Troy) laughed while Jason started passing the food to the girls and the adults and Chad handed Troy the other bag.

Troy took the bag but just set it down the floor and continued watching Sharpay, rubbing her belly.

A few seconds later, Sharpay suddenly spoke up "There better be a good reason why you keep on rubbing my belly Troy"

Troy looked up to see Sharpay, smiling and trying to open her eyes and exclaimed "Pay, you're awake"

"I am and so are you" Sharpay said barely above whisper as he caressed Troy's cheek and looked straight into Troy's ocean blue eyes. Without uttering a single word and being oblivious to the other people around them, the couple got lost in each other's eyes.

"Welcome back to the land of the living sis" Ryan said, interrupting the moment and went over to hug his sister and soon after everybody followed in hugging Sharpay and Troy.

*******************************************

Thirty minutes later, the gang and the adults finally left the reunited couple.

Sharpay still has tubes attached to her but scooted a little to the left to make space for Troy in the bed. His arms were securely wrapped around her waist while she rested her head on the crook of his neck.

"So did I miss anything while I was asleep?" Troy asked

Sharpay looked up, trying to think of anything and said "Not that I can recall… Oh wait, Gabriella's dead"

"Really?" Troy asked in surprise.

"Yup, it was in the news. She ran her car off the Brooklyn Bridge after hitting you" Sharpay informed him

"Oh…Well, that's sad" Troy said, sounding a little sarcastic.

Sharpay creased her eyebrows and looked at Troy confused. Troy saw this and continued "I mean I'm sort of happy that she's out of our lives but at the same time I'm sad that she had to die before she realizes that I'm never going to be hers" Troy explained

"I know… So why were you rubbing my belly earlier?" Sharpay asked, trying to change the subject as she played with their intertwined hands.

Troy laughed as he placed both their hands on top of her belly "Well because of your fainting spell, which by the way you'll get an earful once we get out of here, the doctors found out that we're (kissing her temple) having (kissing her right eye) a (kissing her cheek) baby (kissing her lips)" Troy said

"Really?" Sharpay gasped

Troy nodded as he watched Sharpay rubbed her belly affectionately. Sharpay then looked up at Troy and said "We're having a baby" She then captured his lips with hers.

Seconds later and much to Sharpay's dismay, Troy pulled away. "Hey, why'd you pull away? I wasn't done with you" Sharpay complained

"Patience is a virtue… Now move closer to the edge of the bed. I want to do this right" Troy instructed Sharpay

Sharpay creased her eyebrows and asked "Do what right?"

"Just get your butt closer to the edge" Troy said as he kneels down on one knee while holding Sharpay's right hand and cleared his throat.

"Troy, what's this?" Sharpay asked nervously

"Okay. Here goes. Just a little disclaimer first before I start, I pictured this moment more romantic and memorable than this" Troy ranted. He always did that when he's nervous.

"Just get on with it" Sharpay said

"Okay. Okay" Troy said as he sighed deeply and continued "Sharpay Michelle Evans, I love you ever since we were in the 3rd grade. You have been my best friend to my lover to my ex-lover then to my best friend again then to my lover again and hopefully that cycle stops there. We have been together from good to bad to worse but now it's time to make things all better. I guess what I'm trying to say is… Sharpay Michelle Evans, will you marry me?"

Troy opened the small velvet box revealing the beautiful engagement ring he bought for her as Sharpay gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. It took several seconds before Sharpay could react and this has got Troy all worried "Pay?" he asked nervously

"Yeah?" Sharpay asked back, not taking her eyes off the ring.

"What do you say?" Troy asked as he squeezed her hand

Sharpay tore her sights off the ring and looked at an anxious Troy "Yes. Yes. Of course, I'll marry you"

"Good" Troy said as he slipped the Harry Winston engagement ring on Sharpay's right hand and continued "You've got me all worried there for a second"

"I know" Sharpay said, winking at Troy and continued "Now will you get back up here and kiss me or do I need to change my mind?" Sharpay threatened as Troy hurriedly captured Sharpay's lips with his.

When the need for oxygen became a necessity, they pulled apart but kept their foreheads pressed together.

"Thank you for giving me one more chance" Troy said

"Shhh…" Sharpay said as she pressed her pointer finger on Troy's lips and continued "Save that for your vows. Now where's that Big Mac that Chad has been ranting about?"

Troy laughed as he and Sharpay continued to kiss, laugh and eat all night long, enjoying each other's company and hopefully (now with Gabriella out of the picture) this will last as long as they both shall live.

Both of them were happy that life has given them one more chance to be together and this time neither one of them is letting go of the other ever again.

* * *

**A/N: Whew… this is by far the longest chapter I did for this story and with that there goes the last chapter. I'm so sad that this story has finally reached its end. **

**So for the 2****nd**** to the last time… What do you think of this chapter? Is it good? Is it bad? Please, please, please let me know and click the REVIEW button below xoxo Anne**


	19. Epilogue

**A/N: So this is it, the last chapter of this story and I'm so sad but as they all good things must come to an end. I really hope that you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing this story. But they also say that when God closes a door, he also open a window – so better watch out for my other stories, Heaven and Hell and Got To Believe – as I'll be updating them next.**

**Again, thank you thank you thank you thank you to all of my readers and those who have consistently reviewed my story one chapter after the other.**

**I do not own HSM.**

* * *

**Epilogue **

_8 months and a week later…_

The gang was having their usual Friday night dinner at Ryan's place and this Friday night is very special since it was Sharpay's last dinner with the gang before she'll go into labor.

"So have you guys thought of a name yet?" Taylor asked as took a bite of her mango cream pie.

Sharpay leaned back into Troy's chest and answered "Since it's a girl, we were thinking of Alexandra Michelle Bolton"

"That's a mouthful" Chad said as he shoves a big piece of oatmeal raisin cookie in his mouth.

Kelsi rolled her eyes while the rest of the gang just chose to ignore Chad "How'd you come up with that name?"

"Well Michelle is from Pay while Alexandra is the female version of my second name" Troy explained

The gang nodded as they continue to eat their desserts. Sharpay looked at Troy, her eyes seemed to be asking permission while Troy winked at her and nodded.

Martha noticed this subtle exchange of action between the couple and asked "What's with the looks?"

The gang looked at Troy and Sharpay, waiting for their answer. Looking at Sharpay, Troy nodded once more while Sharpay sighed deeply and then looked at the gang.

"Okay so we need to ask you something but you have to promise us that not one of you will freak out and remember that Pay's pregnant and any sudden, unexpected reaction can trigger this little girl (pointing to Sharpay's belly) to come out" Troy ranted.

The gang looked at each other with creased eyebrows. "Troy, what in the world are you talking about?"

"What Troy's saying is that we want all of you to be Alexandra's godparents?" Sharpay asked. Troy squeezed her hand as they both looked at gang, expectantly.

"All of us?" Zeke repeated. Troy and Sharpay nodded.

"You want all of us to be Alexandra's god parents?" Jason asked as Troy and Sharpay nodded again.

"So what do you say? Please say yes?" Sharpay pleaded giving the gang her famous puppy dog eyes.

"Of course! We'll be her godparents!" Taylor exclaimed as the rest of gang huddled around Sharpay's belly, cooing and making all sorts of baby noise.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and then looked at Troy, who was grinning from ear to ear. A few seconds later, Sharpay felt something pop inside her making her eyes go double in size and clutched her belly. The gang noticed her sudden action and quickly gave her room to breathe while Troy was at her side at once.

"Pay baby, what's wrong?" Troy asked in his 'trying-to-be-calm-but-not-so-calm' voice

Sharpay looked down at the floor, where she saw amniotic fluid starting to pool around her and then looked back at Troy, who was staring at her with eyes wide open.

"Okay either you peed on yourself or your water bag broke?" Chad said

Troy gulped loudly as he waited for Sharpay's answer.

"My water bag broke" Sharpay mumbled

The gang including Troy seemed to be stuck in place up until Sharpay yelled in pain "Ow…Ouch….Ow…"

The gang (this time excluding Troy) went immediately to Sharpay's side, trying to help her up the chair.

"Okay easy does it" Taylor said

"Don't worry, your baby is just going to be just fine" Martha cooed, trying her best to calm Sharpay down.

"Hello 911, yes we need an ambulance. My sister is going into labor" Ryan said on the phone.

"Maybe you shouldn't stand up" Jason suggested

"And how do you suggest we get her down this building if she doesn't stand up?" Kelsi asked sarcastically

"We can carry her down" Zeke proposed

"Yeah, we can do that. Ryan, Zeke, Jason, take one side of the chair" Chad instructed as the guys took their places. "Okay on the count of three… one… two…" Chad trailed off as the gang (including Sharpay) looked at Troy, who was panicking like an old lady.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god" Troy said in panic as he circled around in place, trying to think of what to do to help Sharpay.

"Ah…ah…" Troy continued as he went towards the door

"Troy?!" Kelsi yelled

Troy stopped and then went back to the gang "What?"

"We need to bring Sharpay to the hospital" Taylor answered

Troy nodded and looked at Sharpay as panic stricken him once again "Oh god... ah…oh god…" Troy said as he once circled in place.

The gang looked at each other, then back at Troy and then shouted "Troy!"

This seemed to have calmed Troy down and made him think straight as they were able to get Sharpay down to the ground floor where the ambulance was waiting for them.

*******************************************

_After 14 hours of labor…_

Sharpay lay in a hospital bed once again as the sun shined down on her angelic face. She slowly opened her eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness. She looked around the room and saw tons of flowers and balloons from her family and friends.

She continued to scan the room looking for Troy when she suddenly heard someone snoring lightly by her side. She looked down and saw Troy sleeping by her bed, holding her hands.

She squeezed his hands to let him know that she was awake. Troy suddenly sat straight up as if he was drenched in cold water and then looked at Sharpay.

"Hey" Troy whispered as he leaned in towards her, placing a soft kiss on her lips

"Hey" Sharpay whispered back

Troy rubbed his neck as he sat back down on the chair. "Ow…"

Sharpay laughed softly and said "Why didn't you sleep on the couch?"

"I don't want to let go of your hands" Troy said, smiling sheepishly at her. "How are you feeling?" Troy asked

"A little sore but it was worth it" Sharpay said as she pats space beside her and motioned Troy to sit by her.

Troy happily obliged and as soon as he sat down by her side, he wraps his arms around her waist and kissed her hair while she leaned back on his chest.

Sharpay sighed and asked "Have you seen her?"

"Not yet. I wanted to wait for you so that we can see her together for the first time" Troy said

Just then, Nurse Adele came into the room carrying an adorable baby girl wrapped in a Baby Star daisy chain pink baby girls' designer diamond blanket courtesy of Lucy Bolton.

"Look baby, your mommy and daddy are awake now" Nurse Adele cooed as she made her way towards Sharpay and Troy.

Nurse Adele handed the baby to Sharpay as she started to instruct her on how to hold the baby "Okay you need to hold…" but soon trailed off when she saw that Sharpay was a natural in holding her own child.

When Sharpay got a good hold of the baby, Nurse Adele slipped out of the room as quietly as she could.

"Hello there my little baby girl. Hello!" Sharpay cooed as he daughter yawned, adorably.

Meanwhile Troy was mesmerized at the sight of their daughter as he puts one of his fingers in between her daughter's hands, who instantaneously grab it. Troy smiled as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"She's so cute" Troy said barely above whisper

Sharpay saw Troy tear up and gently kissed Troy's forehead. Troy looked up at Sharpay while wiping his face and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I love you" Troy whispered to Sharpay

"I love you too" Sharpay whispered back

They then both looked down at the sleeping baby and said "We love you Alexandra Michelle Bolton"

They looked back up at each other, trying to restrain their laughter and then continued to watch their beautiful daughter.

"This girl will be one big spoiled child just like her mom" Troy teased as Sharpay stuck her tongue out.

Little did they know, the whole gang including their parents was outside their room watching the beautiful family in front of them.

*******************************************

_6 months after…_

"_Life couldn't get any better than today"_ Sharpay thought as she stared at her reflection on the full-length mirror inside the backroom of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

She was wearing a silk shauntung and taffeta with fitted bodice, low back and chapel train especially designed for her by Vera Wang. It looked perfect on her as the gown accentuated every flattering part of her body and her tan. Her shoes, of course, were white peep-toes Manolo Blahniks.

She sighed as she puts the tiara and veil on top of her golden locks "Okay. This is it, only a few more minutes" Sharpay said to herself.

A few seconds after, somebody knocked on the door.

"Pay? Are you ready?" Ryan asked from the other side of the door.

"I'll be right out" Sharpay said.

She then took one last look at herself at the mirror and sighed once more, putting the veil in front of her face. "Here we go" she said, lifting her train up and walked out of the room.

She turned at the hallway just outside the main church where Vance and her bridesmaids, Taylor, Kelsi, Martha and Abbie were waiting for her.

Vance smiled at the sight of her daughter and said "You ready princess?"

Sharpay nodded and then looked at the girls, who were all grinning from ear to ear. "You look beautiful Pay" Kelsi said

"Simply stunning" Martha added

"Beautiful and stunning are an understatement but we'll let the groom tell you that" Taylor followed

"And you three looked awesome" Sharpay answered back. The bridesmaids' gowns were a simple halter top, A-line knee length dress with a pink satin lace around the waist, which was also designed by Vera Wang paired with a simple white ballet flats from Jimmy Choos.

"Taylor's right. Now let's get this show on the road" Vance said as Sharpay wraps her right arm on the crook of Vance's elbow.

Before taking her place, Taylor handed Sharpay her bouquet, which was a half dozen pink roses (Sharpay's favorite flower).

The girls nodded as they formed a line in front of the mahogany door of the church. Kelsi was in front of the line and softly knocked on the door, this signaled Jason who was on the other side of the door that they're ready to begin.

*******************************************

The church was only half-full of family members, close friends and important businessmen. They didn't want this to be media circus so the press weren't allowed inside.

Instead of the traditional 'Here comes the bride', Troy and Sharpay decided to hire Carrie Underwood to sing the chorus of 'I'll never let go'.

As soon as the doors opened, the pianist started playing the instrumental version of the song.

Abbie walked in first keeping her eyes locked with Ryan's

Kelsi followed and looked directly at Jason's hazel brown eyes

Martha came in next staring at Zeke as she made her way towards the altar

Taylor entered next looking straight at Chad's.

Once they reached the altar, they lined up on the opposite side of the boys.

The crowd then stood up when Sharpay entered the church with her father as Carrie Underwood sang the chorus with her angelic voice.

_I'll never go far away from you  
even the sky will tell you  
that I need you so  
for this is all I know  
I'll never go far away from you_

_I'll never go far away from you  
even the sky will tell you  
that I need you so  
for this is all I know  
I'll never go far away from you_

*******************************************

As Carrie Underwood sang, Troy watched as the love of his life and dream walked down the aisle in vision that was truly breathtaking. He then looked at their daughter, Drea, who was quietly sitting on Lucy's lap.

Once Sharpay reached the altar, Troy stepped forward and watched as Vance lifted Sharpay's veil to give her a kiss in the cheek. Vance then turned to him, shook his hands and handed Sharpay's delicate hands to him.

They smiled and mouthed 'I love you' to one another before facing the priest.

*******************************************

It was now time for the vows and both Troy and Sharpay were nervous as they can be. Sharpay decided to go first as she didn't want her make-up to smear when Troy reads her his vows.

"Troy baby, I can't believe that we're finally getting married. I've waited for this day practically since we were in elementary school and now we're actually here. With all the things that has been thrown at us and that we have overcome together, I'd like to think that our relationship has grown stronger and better because of it. I almost lost you once and those three agonizing days with you on that hospital bed is something that I wouldn't want to relive again. I thank God that He has given you back to me and even added our little angel, Drea. And now in front of our family, our friends and in front of God I'm truly proud and honored to say that I love you Troy Alexander Bolton always and forever" Sharpay said as several tears were rolling down her cheek.

Troy, who also had some tears on his cheek, quickly wiped it off and getting ready to say his vows.

"Pay, I know you told me to save this for my vows and so thank you for giving me one more chance. Thank you for being in my life. You are the reason why I live, breathe, think and eat. You are the sole reason for my existence. You are the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing I thought about before I go to sleep. In the single year that we've been apart, I felt like I was dying every day, every hour, every minute and every second that I'm not with you. But then you came back to me and even gave me another purpose for my existence, our daughter. I love you Sharpay Michelle Evans forever and always" Troy said as he wipes the tears that were freely flowing down Sharpay's cheeks. Sharpay did the same and wiped the few tears that Troy has on his cheeks.

"Where are the rings?" the priest asked

Jason nudged Chad, who reached in his coat pocket and handed the rings to Troy and Sharpay.

They each took one and placed the ring on the tip of each other's left ring finger.

"Troy and Sharpay, please repeat after me… I take thee…say each other's name…"

"I take thee Troy/Sharpay…" Troy and Sharpay repeated

"…to be my lawfully wedded husband/wife…"

"…to be my lawfully wedded husband/wife…" Troy and Sharpay followed

"…for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health…till death do us part"

"…for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health…till death do us part" Troy and Sharpay repeated before slipping the ring entirely into each other's hand.

"By the power vested in me by the Catholic Church, I now pronounce you husband and wife" the priest proclaimed and then turned to Troy "You may now kiss your bride"

Troy and Sharpay grinned as he takes off her veil and kissed her passionately. The whole church erupted into applause as everyone was happy that Troy and Sharpay got their fairy tale ending they deserved.

*******************************************

After taking one picture after the other, Sharpay was carrying Drea as Troy has his arms wrapped around the two important women in his life.

The photographer, Edward (remember him?) yelled "Okay, can we now have the entourage and the bride and groom's family please"

The girls as well as Vance and Darby went to Sharpay's side while the guys as well as Jack and Lucy went to Troy's side, getting ready for their picture to be taken.

"Okay good. Now on the count of three… one… two…three…say cheese" Edward counted off

"Wacky faces" Chad yelled at the same time as the gang (including Troy and Sharpay) and the adults made funny, silly and wacky faces, making it a wedding truly worth remembering.

* * *

**A/N: There it goes the very last chapter and I'm really am so sad that this story is ending.**

**For the last time, what do you think? Is it good? Is it bad? Please, please, please let me know and click the REVIEW button below. Oh and I have a big favor from you guys (please – doing the puppy dog eyes right), I know I have over a hundred reviews but I am hoping to reach at least 120 reviews. Please :-) xoxo Anne**

**P.S. I do not own Carrie Underwood and the song 'I'll Never Go' by Erik Santos**


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